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Victory: Federal Court Orders Iowa State to Stop Censoring Student T-Shirts Advocating Marijuana Legalization
DES MOINES, Iowa, January 22, 2016鈥擳oday, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa issued a permanent injunction barring Iowa State University (ISU) administrators from using a trademark policy to prevent the campus chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML ISU) from printing T-shirts depicting a marijuana leaf. FIREErin Furleigh and Paul Gerlich, both former presidents of the group, sued ISU in July 2014 as part of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education鈥檚 (贵滨搁贰鈥檚) .
Because ISU had rejected the student group鈥檚 T-shirts 鈥渄ue to the messages they expressed鈥 in an effort to 鈥渕aintain favor with Iowa political figures,鈥 the court found that ISU engaged in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment.
The court also denied the defense of qualified immunity to the named defendants, including ISU President Steven Leath and Senior Vice President Warren Madden, meaning that they may be held personally liable for violating Furleigh and Gerlich鈥檚 First Amendment rights. In so ruling, the court found that 鈥渁 reasonable person would understand that Defendants鈥 actions treaded on Plaintiffs鈥 First Amendment rights of political expression and association.鈥
Senior District Judge James Gritzner, who issued the ruling, observed that 鈥淸t]he development of First Amendment doctrine in the university context has repeatedly affirmed that student groups may not be denied benefits on the basis of their espoused views.鈥 After reviewing the record, the court concluded that 鈥淒efendants took action specifically directed at NORML ISU based on their views and the political reaction to those views so that Defendants could maintain favor with Iowa political figures.鈥
In their original complaint, the students detailed how the university censored the group鈥檚 T-shirts based on their marijuana-related messaging and imagery, removed NORML ISU鈥檚 advisor, and implemented new guidelines for using ISU鈥檚 trademark in order to restrict NORML ISU鈥檚 speech. And in a January 2015 ruling, the court rejected every argument ISU made in its initial attempt to have the case dismissed.
Gerlich and Furleigh were represented by Robert Corn-Revere, Ronald London, and Lisa Zycherman of in Washington, D.C.
鈥淲e are gratified that the court understood that ISU bowed to political pressure when it imposed special restrictions on NORML ISU,鈥 said Corn-Revere. 鈥淭his violated the most basic First Amendment requirement that the government cannot discriminate against a student group or its members because it disagrees with their viewpoints. This decision vindicates the right to freedom of expression not just for the courageous students who brought this case, but for the students of all public universities.鈥
While the court found that ISU鈥檚 actions and policies were 鈥渦nconstitutionally discriminatory as applied to Plaintiffs,鈥 it did not find ISU鈥檚 trademark policy to be facially unconstitutional because student groups are not punished for submitting T-shirt designs that are later rejected by ISU. As a result, the court did not find a sufficient chilling effect on other student groups to support invalidating the policy as written on First Amendment grounds.
鈥淚鈥檓 very excited about this decision,鈥 said student plaintiff Paul Gerlich. 鈥淚t is extremely validating to have a federal judge agree that our First Amendment rights were violated. It鈥檚 also gratifying that this decision will help make sure that other students in Iowa, and maybe even nationally, won鈥檛 have to go through what we did.鈥 Gerlich added, 鈥淎nd, of course, I can鈥檛 wait to see what new T-shirt designs we come up with.鈥
"NORML ISU is a student organization that faces judgment despite being involved in community service, political outreach, and organizing events centered on public education and policies," said student plaintiff Erin Furleigh. "I hope this decision will remind our Iowa State community that college should be a welcoming place to absorb perspectives, share your own, and participate in productive, progressive dialogue."
鈥淭his is a tremendous moment for Paul and Erin, whose courage in standing up for their rights has been vindicated,鈥 said Catherine Sevcenko, 贵滨搁贰鈥檚 Director of Litigation.
FIRE is a nonpartisan, nonprofit educational foundation that unites civil rights and civil liberties leaders, scholars, journalists, and public intellectuals from across the political and ideological spectrum on behalf of individual rights, freedom of expression, academic freedom, due process, and freedom of conscience at our nation鈥檚 colleges and universities. 贵滨搁贰鈥檚 efforts to preserve liberty on campuses across America can be viewed at thefire.org.
CONTACT:
Katie Barrows, Communications Coordinator, 果冻传媒app官方: 215-717-3473; media@thefire.org
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