In high school, it came at a time when student smoking was the BIG issue for administrators. Some didn't like it when the students - with a little research - discovered that city laws prohibited ALL smoking in public buildings; a prohibition that would actually cover the teacher's lounges. One teacher - a smoker - was extremely irate that the student council had the unmitigated gall - the sheer audacity - to rat them out, as he thought that his vast and lofty academic standing ought to EXEMPT him from the law.
He found out otherwise.
So this professor is exercising his 1st Amendment right to issue pronouncements that cannot be enforced - they're just as meaningless as if I sent a letter to the editor notifying everyone that I've taken it upon myself to set a new speed limit on the nearest interstate highway. I'd be ignored - and so should he.