The Department of Justice is siding with conservatives in their free speech case against the University of California, Berkeley.
The case, brought by the Berkeley College Republicans and the Young America’s Foundation, a conservative organization that works to promote intellectual diversity on college campuses, alleges that the University of California’s policies for high profile speakers and major events violated their First and 14th Amendment rights by granting administrators “unfettered discretion” to decide which speakers are subject to stricter rules. These rules include which speakers would be subject to curfews, prohibitive security costs, or undesirable venues, in addition to having full discretion over what determines a “high-profile speaker.”
In a statement of interest, the DOJ contended that “both Policies suffer from the same constitutional defect: they grant University administrators unbridled discretion to decide when, how, and against whom to apply the policies.”
The Berkeley College Republicans have worked with YAF to bring conservative speakers to campus several times in the last year, including conservative firebrand Ann Coulter and Ben Shapiro, but each time the group was subject to strict rules not enforced consistently across student groups. At one point, the University set a 3 p.m. curfew that conflicted with classes.
The plaintiffs cited instances where administrators applied a different standard to conservative speakers than other speakers, including when the University hosted a former president of Mexico and a former White House adviser.
Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand wrote in a statement, “This Department of Justice will not stand by idly while public universities violate students’ constitutional rights.”
In a statement to the Washington Examiner, spokesman Roqua Montez said, “Berkeley does not discriminate against speakers invited by student organizations based upon viewpoints. The campus is committed to ensuring that student groups may hold events with speakers of their choosing. And it has expended significant resources to allow events to go forward without compromising the safety and security of the campus. This suit has already been dismissed by the court once. The campus will continue to vigorously defend itself against these allegations.”
This marks the third time in last six months that the Department of Justice has filed a statement of interest in support of free speech on college campuses.
Disclosure: The author of this story is on an internship sponsored by the National Journalism Center, which is run by Young America’s Foundation.
