Students Sue University for Shutting Down Protest of Gun-Free Zones
“violating university policy because they did not obtain permission to speak from MSU officials”
This is one of those issues where protests are generally frowned upon by today’s universities.
The College Fix reports:
Public university sued for shutting down student protest against gun-free zones
Students who want to protest gun-free zones at Montclair State University must get permission two weeks ahead of time, no matter how mirthful their protest is.
MSU’s Young Americans for Liberty chapter filed a federal lawsuit against the New Jersey public university Thursday, targeting three “sets of policies” as unconstitutional.
The first is the speech permit policy, which prematurely ended YAL’s September protest against gun-free zones, according to the suit. Members dressed up in orange prisoner jumpsuits and held up signs that read “every civilian gun is a threat,” “disarm law abiding citizens” and “criminals for gun free zones.”
Sergeant of Campus Police Kaluba Chipepo told the activists they were violating university policy because they did not obtain permission to speak from MSU officials. They were told to disband voluntarily or their gathering would be “terminated,” as “protests cannot continue.”
The two-week permission requirement qualifies as a prior restraint on speech, violating the First Amendment, according to the lawsuit. It also challenges MSU’s student organization regulations, which give YAL the fewest privileges of any political group on campus, and its bias response team.
Common outdoor areas of MSU are traditional public forums, the suit argues, meaning the university cannot exclude or restrict a student’s speech based upon viewpoint. Yet MSU policy requires administrators “to examine the content and viewpoint of students’ speech in deciding whether to approve, modify, or reject a students’ request to speak.”
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