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Monday, April 24, 2017

The Berkeley Lawsuit

With the impending speech in Berkeley by Ann Coulter and the response from the University of California which seems bent on blocking that event, a lawsuit was filed today against the university administrators.  The suit seeks an injunction to stop the administration from blocking the event and from denying students their First Amendment rights and also seeks damages for the costs imposed on those who invited conservative speakers to the campus.

This is a tack which has not been taken much in the past.  I have read the complaint which is posted online.  If the facts are as alleged, the plaintiffs should get the relief they are seeking.  According to the complaint, the administration is using an unwritten set of rules to stop certain speakers from appearing, namely those speakers who have conservative views.  No federal court, not even the Ninth Circuit, would uphold such actions by a public university.

It will be interesting to see the response from UC Berkeley.

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