Posted by Eugene Volokh:
Public College Prohibiting Distribution of "Students for Concealed Carry on
Campus" Pamphlets?
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_05_24-2009_05_30.shtml#1243442565
The [1]Foundation for Individual Rights in Education reports that this
indeed happened, at the Community College of Allegheny County in
Pennsylvania. At this point, the factual allegations are just the
student's, with no confirmation by the school (the school was asked
for its side of the matter on April 29, and wrote on May 13 that "a
response will be forthcoming in a reasonable time frame," but hasn't
said anything further). Still, I have found FIRE's past factual
assertions to be quite reliable; and if the student's accusations are
accurate, this seems like a serious First Amendment problem. Check out
FIRE's summary, and the linked documents, and see for yourself.
I should note that the college apparently defended itself on the
grounds that students couldn't use the name of the college without the
college's permission. But according to [2]FIRE, the name was used in a
way that made clear that it was just identifying the location of a
student group; I see no constitutional basis for the college to
prohibit the use of a name in this context (though I suppose that it
might, in an excess of caution, require that use of the name be
accompanied with an express note that the college name is used only
for identification purposes, and not as a sign of endorsement).
I should also note that the college reportedly asserted that its
policy is to require preapproval of student publications; to the
extent that such a policy is permitted on college property, it has to
be nondiscretionary and viewpoint-neutral, and according to the
student's account the college claimed that it would not approve
publications that express this viewpoint. And the only policy that
FIRE could find that supposedly covered this behavior (which the
college reportedly labeled as "soliciation") was this one, which is
pretty clearly unconstitutional:
Solicitation: The distribution or display of, and the personal
contact with individuals or groups related to non-sponsored college
material or events, without prior written approval of the college
are prohibited. These actions are limited to public property;
however, public property in this context does not include college
property.
I hope to hear more about this case in the future, and especially to
hear the college's side of the story.
Disclosure: I will be a [3]keynote speaker at FIRE's 10th Anniversary
event this October.
References
1. http://www.thefire.org/index.php/article/10645.html
2. http://www.thefire.org/index.php/article/10632.html
3. http://www.thefire.org/index.php/article/10415.html/
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