The University System of Maryland defied Wednesday a request from state lawmakers to create a policy regulating the display of pornographic films on its campuses, concluding that such a move would provoke costly free-speech lawsuits.
A pornography policy would also place undue financial and administrative burdens on the system's campuses, the Board of Regents said in explaining its unanimous decision.
"As we learned more, we came to find out it would be a very difficult thing to accomplish," said system Chancellor William E. Kirwan. "We came to see it just wasn't going to be possible to develop a policy that we were certain could stand up to constitutional challenge."
It's unclear if the vote will bring reprisal from the legislature, which made the request after uproar over the scheduled screening of the XXX-rated film "Pirates II: Stagnetti's Revenge" in April on the University of Maryland, College Park campus. Sen. Andy Harris, a Republican representing Baltimore and Harford counties, tried unsuccessfully to amend the state budget so that public universities could not access their funding unless they developed a pornography policy. The General Assembly ultimately passed a nonbinding resolution telling the university system to come up with a policy. No potential penalties were specified.
Del. John L. Bohanan, a St. Mary's County Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said that many House lawmakers thought the legislative remedy was a "solution in search of a problem" and would likely accept the university's stance.
"I understand where the university system is coming from," he said.
When instructed to craft a policy, system officials assumed they could scout around for policies from other states and draft language based on those. But they discovered that Maryland would be the first state in the nation to pass a pornography policy for its public campuses. That realization played a crucial role in the board's eventual shift against approving the policy, which would have required that any display of pornographic films at university facilities be accompanied by educational programs.
"This is not particularly an area where I wish for us to be precedent-setters," said Regent Patricia Florestano. She added that she had initially expected to go along with the legislature's request.
Some lawmakers said they anticipate a renewed debate about pornography on campuses during the next General Assembly session that begins in January.
