Free-speech lawsuit against ASU tossed

A federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a since-repealed “Freedom of Expression” policy at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro was dismissed Monday as moot.

U.S. District Judge Leon Holmes cited the unanimous vote of the university’s board in March to drop the policy to comply with a newly passed state law.

The new law, which went into effect July 24, states members of a campus community wanting “to engage in noncommercial activity in an outdoor area of campus of a state-supported institution of higher education shall be permitted to do so freely,” as long as the conduct isn’t unlawful and doesn’t substantially disrupt university functions.

The now-repealed policy said the university “has not opened its campuses as public forums,” and called for “Free Expression Areas for speeches and demonstrations.”

It applied to faculty, staff, students, student organizations and visitors, and designated seven specific areas of the campus as “Free Expression Areas” where “speaking, demonstrating and other forms of expression” were permitted during certain hours Monday through Friday, according to Holmes’ 29-page order.

He noted anyone who wished to use other areas or other times for speeches and demonstrations could request to do so 72 hours in advance. The policy also allowed distributing material in specially designated “distribution areas,” including any of the Free Expression areas, and prohibited stands, tables or booths in distribution areas, except for the free expression areas, and only with permission from a university official.

The policy was challenged in December 2017 by student Ashlyn Hoggard and a chapter of Turning Point USA, a conservative organization, after she and a non-student set up a table on the edge of a patio outside the student union and began trying to recruit students and start a local chapter. They hadn’t requested permission beforehand.

Student union administrators soon instructed them to stop, and then two university police officers arrived. One of the officers issued a citation to the non-student, who Holmes said “engaged the ASU employees verbally,” and then Hoggard and the non-student representative of Turning Point took down their table and left.

In the lawsuit, Hoggard and the organization asserted the policy violated their First Amendment and 14th Amendment rights. The suit sought an injunction forbidding the policy from being enforced, as well as compensatory and nominal damages.

Although both sides asked the judge to decide the case on legal arguments alone, Holmes opted to grant the university’s motion to dismiss the case as moot.

“A case is moot, and no longer a case or controversy, when the issues presented are no longer live or the parties no longer have a legally cognizable interest in the outcome,” he said.