PUNTA GORDA, Fla.—A non-profit group filed a lawsuit on Feb. 23 against the University of Houston for a harassment policy they claim punishes free speech. Speech First, a non-profit based in Washington, accused the Texas university of violating students’ First Amendment rights by “maintaining a policy” that holds students accountable via disciplinary actions for online and off-campus speech that the university maintains is the institution’s “standard of harassment.” The nonprofit is challenging the policy that defines harassment as “negative stereotyping” and “denigrating jokes.” The plaintiff maintains that such expressions are protected speech under the First Amendment. The University of Houston did not respond to a request for comment. “Supreme Court precedent dictates that institutions of high learning are only permitted to restrict speech when speech becomes so ‘severe and pervasive’ that it crosses the line into harassing conduct,” Speech First said in a press release when the lawsuit was announced on …