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Speech Code at Modesto Junior College Fixed. Who鈥檚 Next?

Six months ago today, Modesto Junior College officials stopped student Robert Van Tuinen from distributing copies of the Constitution on campus, prompting him to file suit for violation of his First Amendment rights. Last Friday, Van Tuinen鈥檚 lawyers filed a stipulation for dismissal of his lawsuit in federal court, the final step in implementing the settlement that resulted in a complete overhaul of Modesto Junior College鈥檚 (MJC鈥檚) (PDF) and as well as a $50,000 payment.

Margaret Mead once said, 鈥淣ever doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; in fact, it is the only thing that ever has.鈥 In this case, Robert Van Tuinen stood up for the rights of all students at MJC with the support of a few fellow students, faculty, his family, and three of the ablest First Amendment lawyers in the country鈥擱obert Corn-Revere, Ronald London, and Lisa Zycherman of . FIREis incredibly proud of its role in helping to bring these extraordinary people together so that they could restore free expression to MJC.

We鈥檒l be assessing the MJC case and sharing our lessons learned in the coming weeks鈥攂ut when it comes to First Amendment violations on campus, we know that MJC is just the tip of the iceberg.

So, what鈥檚 next? You tell us.

If you鈥檙e reading this post, you know the importance of the First Amendment. Please consider being the next Robert Van Tuinen by challenging the speech codes on your campus. Submit a case and tell us how your school used its regulations to stifle your voice. Or use our new email address for students who want to challenge their school鈥檚 speech policies: fightback@thefire.org. If FIREcan help you, we will.

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