The ACLU of Indiana claims the professor-targeted bill “infringes on academic freedom and free speech” and is suing over it.

Indianapolis, Indiana – A lawsuit was launched on Friday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana against the state over legislation that restricts the topics that teachers in higher education can discuss.

According to a state law known as SEA 202, professors who do not “expose students to scholarly works from a variety of political and ideological frameworks” or who do not “foster a culture of free identity, free expression, and intellectual diversity” risk losing their jobs and having their pay cut.

The ACLU of Indiana previously claimed that this was illegal, pointing out that the terms “free inquiry” and “free expression” are ambiguous. They thought it would be against the First Amendment. But this month, the U.S. District Court dismissed their initial complaint against SEA 202.

The ACLU of Indiana is currently making another effort to repeal the statute. “We feel that these policies violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution by interfering with faculty members’ freedom of speech and academic freedom,” they stated. The group observed, as they have in the past, that it could be difficult for instructors to know what they are and are not allowed to do in the classroom.

Additionally, the ACLU of Indiana stated that a professor’s career revolves around their ability to exercise academic freedom and independently manage content. “A freedom these mandates [SEA 202] directly infringe,” they said of this.