Clovis Community College Loses Critical Decision over Free Speech JONATHAN TURLEY
Clovis Community College in California lost a major ruling in its effort to quash a free speech lawsuit by students censored by the school. U.S. District Judge Jennifer Thurston granted a preliminary injunction against the college, which requires a finding of a substantial likelihood of prevailing on the merits. The college ordered the removal of flyers promoting Freedom Week in November 2021, a week in which student groups oppose socialism and support conservative causes.
The lawsuit was brought by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) attorney on behalf of three students at Clovis Community College. The students are members of the school s chapter of the Young Americans for Freedom. They allege that they had received approval to post anti-communist and anti-socialist flyers on bulletin boards inside campus buildings last November. However, Clovis President Dr. Lori Bennett allegedly ordered the flyers taken down.
The defendants in the suit are Clovis Community College President Lori Bennett, Vice President of Student Services Marco De La Garza, Dean of Student Services Gurdeep Sihota Hebert and Senior Student Services Program Specialist Patrick Stumpf.
The college insists that it reserves the right to remove flyers over inappropriate or [offensive] language or themes. The lack of any definition for those vague terms would weigh heavily with the court in granting the preliminary injunction.
FIRE produced emails showing that a college administrator offered to gladly take down the flyers after several people said that they were very uncomfortable with the flyers, including a person who allegedly threatened a harassment claim if the posters were not taken down.
Amen, amen.