Students at North Carolina State University have had their free speech rights restored, for now.
U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III temporarily blocked a campus policy that requires students to obtain a permit for distributing fliers or soliciting others, The News & Observer reported.
Dever’s ruling came on Saturday, two days after a hearing in Raleigh. The quick decision was celebrated by the Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing Grace Christian Life, a student group on campus which filed a lawsuit in April.
University officials told group members that they needed a permit to speak with other students after they already obtained a permit to set up a table in the student union.
Attorneys for the university said the policy was approved to manage student gathering places and to recognize safety concerns. They also likened the permit process to making restaurant reservations.
The relevant policy is REG 07.25.12 which defines non-commercial speech as “any distribution of leaflets, brochures or other written material, or oral speech to a passersby…”
Under “General Permission to Solicit,” the policy says those “wishing to conduct any form of solicitation on University premises must have the written permission of Student Involvement in advance. All forms of solicitation must be approved by Student Involvement, and, if applicable, by the administrator responsible for the facility or location where the activity is to be held.”
Dever suggested a policy change while the lawsuit was pending.
“These are adults, adults on a campus, a state-run campus, and before they can talk with anyone or solicit them in some way like, ‘Come join our club,’ they have to get a permit?” he asked.
A statement from Fred Hartman, a university spokesperson, said the university planned to comply with the ruling, but denied the policy was in place to prohibit conversation, and said it “has never been applied in that manner.”
Attorneys for the university said the permit process has been equally enforced, and that Grace Christian Life was not treated differently because it is a religious group. ADF says otherwise.
“The university only selectively enforces its permit policy and did so against Grace Christian Life, a registered student organization, when officials told members of the group that they needed a permit to speak with other students in the student union,” a news release said.
The release added that “Grace Christian Life members observed and documented numerous other groups freely speaking with other students and handing out literature either without a permit or outside of the area reserved by their table permit—sometimes in full view of the same officials that stopped Grace Christian Life from doing the same.”
The policy is on hold while the lawsuit moves forward.
