By Mairead McArdle
Friday, April 27, 2018
Conservative students at the University of California,
Berkeley will be allowed to move forward with their lawsuit alleging the school
discriminated against conservative speakers.
U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney ruled Wednesday that
the lawsuit levied by two student groups can continue, shooting down the
school’s request to dismiss it.
The Berkeley College Republicans and the Young America’s
Foundation accused the school of efforts to “restrict and stifle the speech of
conservative students whose voices fall beyond the campus political orthodoxy,”
after two speakers they invited to campus had their events cancelled.
Conservative author Ann Coulter was bumped from a planned
appearance at the school in April 2017 after angry protests by left-leaning
students caused security concerns. After a national backlash, the school
allowed Coulter to speak in early May during a “dead week” when many students
were off campus.
Another conservative writer, David Horowitz, had a speech
canceled the same month after difficulties with campus security and
accommodations, and the previous February, a Milo Yiannopoulos event was also
shut down over safety concerns.
Administrators and campus police committed “repressive”
actions and let a “faceless, rabid off-campus mob” dictate what speech is
allowed on campus, the lawsuit alleges. It goes on to accuse the school of
maintaining a “secret” policy for high-profile speakers that was used unfairly
against conservatives, and to take issue with the campus’s demand of a $9,162
security fee for Ben Shapiro, compared to the $5,000 charged for an appearance
by Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
Despite allowing the case to continue, the judge
maintained she is not convinced the university discriminated against the groups
because they are conservative.
“There are no allegations suggesting those concerns were
unfounded,” Chesney said of the restrictions.
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