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LA college district abolishes free speech zones as part of lawsuit settlement


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la-college-district-abolishes-free-speech-zones-as-part-of-lawsuit-settlement

Perry Chiaramonte

Dec. 14 2018

kevin_shaw_9.jpg?ve=1&tl=1

Pierce College student, Kevin Shaw, 27, filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Community College District after he was barred from passing out copies of a document because he wasn’t in the designated “free speech zone" on campus. School officials settled the lawsuit earlier this week when they abandoned use of the zones.  (Photo courtesy of Dawn Bowery/FIRE)

A Los Angeles college student who sued his school for allegedly curbing his right to free speech after it prevented him from passing out copies of the U.S. Constitution was vindicated in court this week.

The Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD), which represents nine schools, including Pierce College, agreed on Wednesday to settle a lawsuit filed against them last year by student Kevin Shaw after he was barred from passing out copies of the document because he wasn’t in the school’s designated “free speech zone,” which measured 616 square feet or about the size of three parking spaces.

(Snip)

“When I attempted to hand out copies of the Constitution that day, my only intention was to get students thinking about our founding principles and to inspire discussion of liberty and free speech,” Shaw said in a statement to Fox News in early 2017. “I had no idea I would be called upon to defend those very ideals against Pierce’s unconstitutional campus policies.”

Shaw, with the help of advocacy organization, The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), filed suit back in March 2017 and this past January, a federal district court denied the district and Pierce College administrators’ motion to dismiss Shaw’s lawsuit finding that the open spaces of public colleges are traditional public forums for student speech regardless of regulations.

“Hopefully, this settlement will serve as a reminder to both students and their colleges that the free and open exchange of ideas on campus is a precious commodity to be celebrated rather than feared or restricted,” said Arthur Willner, attorney, and co-counsel with FIRE in the case.

(Snip)

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