ACLU says potential ban goes against constitution
A proposed Ohio University policy that would ban indoor protests on campus is unconstitutional and would chill expression, the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio warned the school.
In a letter sent to Ohio University on Friday, the ACLU urged the Athens school not to adopt the policy or another one regarding the use of outdoor space on campus, writing that both “contain provisions that are unconstitutional restraints on the freedom of speech.”
A portion of the interim “Freedom of Expression Policy” states that university employees and students, as well as groups or individuals not affiliated with the university, can reserve and use university facilities for any legal purpose, including to engage in constitutionally protected speech.
But the policy goes on to say “demonstrators, rallies, public speech-making, sit-ins, marches, protests and similar assemblies are not permitted in the interior spaces of university buildings.”
The university said the only expressive conduct prohibited under the policy would be demonstrations in indoor
spaces not otherwise available for reservation, such as building lobbies. University officials have said the policy is meant to uphold Ohio University’s commitment to the free exchange of ideas while ensuring safety on campus.
But colleges and universities, as open marketplaces of ideas, deserve the First Amendment’s highest protections, the ACLU said.
“Of course, colleges and universities may enact reasonable restrictions on when and where students may gather,” Elizabeth Bonham, staff attorney for the ACLU of Ohio, said in a statement. “But this total ban is unjustified and would chill student, staff, and faculty expression.”
The university accepted community feedback on the policy until Friday, after extending the original Oct. 6 deadline.
University leaders will now form an advisory group of students, faculty and staff to review comments and make recommendations on a final policy.
“While we disagree with some of the conclusions asserted by the ACLU of Ohio, we do agree on the fundamental importance of free expression on all Ohio University campuses,” said university spokeswoman Carly Leatherwood in an emailed statement. “We will take their feedback into consideration, just as we will all other input that has been shared in the monthlong review period.”
The policy comes after campus police arrested 70 students on criminal-trespass charges in February, after they refused to leave a sit-in demonstration inside the Baker University Center, where they were protesting President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. The city of Athens later dropped misdemeanor charges against 55 students after the first student protester to go to trial was found not guilty. Fifteen other students already had pleaded no contest and were found guilty of reduced charges of disorderly conduct.
At his investiture ceremony on Wednesday, President M. Duane Nellis announced plans for a campus-wide lecture series centered on difficult dialogue, adding that Ohio University should be known as a place of free expression and rigorous debate.
Nellis told The Dispatch that he “strongly supports free speech on campuses across our nation,” but added he also recognizes “that dynamic of free speech creates potential for conflict.”
“... This total ban is unjustified and would chill student, staff, and faculty expression.”
— Elizabeth Bonham, staff attorney for the ACLU of Ohio