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Creeley in ā€˜Los Angeles Registerā€™ on Citrus Collegeā€™s History of Censorship

Citrus Collegeā€™s First Amendment troubles didnā€™t just start when an administrator stopped student Vinny Sinapi-Riddle from gathering petition signatures on campus last September 17, Constitution Day. In fact, as ¹ū¶³“«Ć½app¹Ł·½ā€™s for the Los Angeles Register earlier this month, Citrus was trying to keep Sinapi-Riddle inside precisely the kind of ā€œfree speech areaā€ that Citrus agreed to eliminate in 2003 after another student took Citrus to court to challenge its restrictions on speech.

In his article, Will takes Citrus to task:

The last time the college was sued by a student over its free speech zone, in 2003, Citrus settled the case and agreed to pay the student plaintiff $24,000 and to revise its policy.

But in a stunning display of hubris (or incompetence), the school decided to resuscitate its free speech zone, instituting a policy almost identical to the one it abandoned under legal pressure. Now, eleven years later, Citrus Collegeā€™s disdain for the First Amendment will again cost California taxpayers. History has repeated itself, and Citrusā€™s malfeasance is both farce and tragedy.

As Will points out, ā€œThe law couldnā€™t be clearer: FIREat public colleges enjoy full First Amendment rights.ā€ So even though Citrus in particular should know better than to try to limit student speech to a free speech zone, so too should all public colleges and universities across the country.

Until the message sinks in, FIREis committed to helping students like Sinapi-Riddle defend their rights in court through our Litigation Project. ¹ū¶³“«Ć½app¹Ł·½, if your college or university isnā€™t fulfilling its obligation under the First Amendment to allow free expression on campus, email FIREat standup@thefire.org.

Head over to the to read more about Citrus Collegeā€™s history of censorship and why itā€™s vitally important that students stand up for speech.

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