This NJ College Just Settled a Lawsuit with Conservative Students Over Biased Speech Policy

A group of students affiliated with Young Americans for Liberty at Montclair State University in New Jersey dressed in orange jumpsuits and held up signs on campus in September 2019 to “support” gun-free zones — illustrating the point that gun control laws stop law-abiding citizens, not criminals.

A campus cop forced them to stop. According to Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which represents the students, the police officer said they had to obtain permission to speak on campus at least two weeks in advance, and the dean’s office had to assign a time and place to speak.

The students filed a lawsuit against the school, alleging that the two-week prior notice requirement “suppresses all speech and because it allows the university to deny or delay a student’s request for permission for any reason.”

Montclair State has in place a so-called Biased Education program, which, according to the site, “is available through the Office for Social Justice and Diversity. Training is available regarding intolerance and bias to support understanding of difference and respect for all. Creating and sustaining an inclusive student community that supports the diversity of perspectives and experiences is important.”

For leftists, “inclusive” and “diversity” usually mean all things leftist. They’re not tolerant of conservatives and don’t want to include them in anything. So why set up such programs when everyone knows leftists want no such thing? In any case, Montclair State settled the lawsuit rather than fight it out.

ADF announced that the school has agreed to abolish the Bias Education Response Taskforce and eliminate free-speech restrictions. It seems the taskforce page no longer exists. From ADF:

As part of a settlement ending a federal lawsuit Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed on behalf of the campus chapter of Young Americans for Liberty, the university has agreed to allow free expression in all common outdoor areas of campus, remove its unconstitutional hierarchical class system for student organizations, and abolish the taskforce, whose express purpose was to silence unpopular speech on campus.

“Universities cannot arbitrarily pick and choose which students can speak freely on campus,” said ADF Legal Counsel Michael Ross. “Montclair State University’s previous policy placed burdensome restraints on speech and allowed university officials to selectively enforce those restraints against groups they didn’t like. Thankfully, the university has agreed to revise these unconstitutional policies to ensure that all students are treated fairly, regardless of viewpoint.”

Photo credit: By Adam Moss from Tonawanda, New York, United States – Montclair State University, CC BY-SA 2.0, link