NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The state's attorney general is raising constitutional concerns over an effort to strip Vanderbilt University of its police force over a nondiscrimination policy for student groups.
Attorney General Bob Cooper said in a legal opinion released Thursday that he sees no constitutional problems with applying the measure to public colleges and universities. But Cooper said it would be problematic to impose a possibly "unconstitutional condition" on a private institution.
Republican Rep. Mark Pody asked for the opinion on his bill seeking to curtail police activity at the school if it doesn't abandon its nondiscrimination policy among student groups.
Christian groups have protested the policy, saying it forces them to allow nonbelievers and gay students to join.
Republican Governor Bill Haslam last year vetoed a similar bill on college nondiscrimination policies.
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