University of Virginia Library

Legislature Passes
Anti-Disturbance Bill

By Philip Kimball
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

The state Senate passed a bill
yesterday which supporters describe as
"law and order legislation to curb campus
disturbance."

The measure, which passed the Senate
late yesterday by a vote of 30 to 7,
enables "a campus official to order a
person to leave a campus and make it a
misdemeanor if he returns within a year
without permission." The bill, sponsored
by A.L. Philpott (D-Henry) passed the
House Thursday of last week.

Voice Vote

The Senate voted by a voice vote
against an amendment to the bill
proposed by Herbert H. Bateman (D-Newport
News) that "would emphasize that the language
of the bill means it applies to outsiders." Mr.
Bateman also proposed that people ordered to
leave a campus, "must be lawfully directed to
leave and not ordered off by some officious
person."

William H. Hodges, head of the state's
"Crime Commission" and Senate floor leader
for the measure, said that the Bateman
amendments would "kill the bill."

The Legislature voted 21 to 15 against an
amendment introduced by Willard D. Moody
(D-Portsmouth) that would have extended the
authority to high school officials.

Most opponents of the bill questioned its
constitutionality. The bill's chief critic. L.
Douglas Wilder (D-Richmond) contended that
it "gave any college official the right to order
anyone off the campus whether a crime had
been committee or not, and whether the person
was there on lawful business or not."

'Unconstitutional'

Many attackers of the bill, including state
senator Peter Babbalas (D-Norfolk) said that
the first time the bill is brought before a court
it will probably be declared unconstitutional.

While not directly aimed at the University
many observers feel that the bill is a direct
result of last May's disturbance. Mr. Hodges
remarked that "had this bill been in force two
years ago, the University of Virginia would be
the equal of Washington and Lee."

Bateman Resolution

The House yesterday passed a resolution.
introduced by Herbert Bateman in the Senate
last week, "requesting the boards of all
educational institutions in the state to review
their parietal rules with regards to public
standards."

The resolution was passed verbally with no
dissenting votes. Many members of the House
"expressed an opinion that University rules
ought to conform to the public standards of the
community." A resolution such as this does not
have the same legal force of a bill, and is termed
by many legislators as only a "hand slap."

D. Alan Williams, Vice President for Student
Affairs, was not available yesterday afternoon
for comment on either the bill dealing with
"campus disturbance" or the Bateman
resolution.