FEDERAL COURT DEFENDS FIRST AMENDMENT

STAR-TELEGRAM

Tarrant County College violated students' rights,
federal judge rules
Posted Monday, Mar. 15, 2010


By BILL HANNA

[email protected]

FORT WORTH -- A federal judge has ruled that Tarrant County College violated
the First Amendment rights of two students when it prohibited
their attempts to stage empty-holster protests last fall.

U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means permanently enjoined TCC
Chancellor Erma Johnson Hadley and the college from blocking
empty-holster protests on campus, including in the classroom.

Further, Means said the college's co-sponsorship provision,
limiting students' ability to invite outside organizations onto the
campus, "broadly prohibits any speech by students that involves
an off-campus organization."

Means added that the co-sponsorship provision "prohibits students
from the most basic forms of expressive activity -- distribution of
literature, use of signs and even assembly -- based on no more
than the fact that the expression might depend on an off-campus
organization for planning or management."

The case arose after TCC blocked a request to stage an empty-
holster protest by students Clayton Smith and John Schwertz Jr.
last November on the TCC Northeast Campus. The ruling allows
the students to seek attorney's fees from the college.

The two students, with the help of the American Civil Liberties
Union, filed suit against TCC. The protests advocated a change
in state law to allow licensed concealed handgun owners to bring
their guns onto campus, but the lawsuit and subsequent trial came
to be viewed as a debate over free speech rather than gun rights.

Public safety issue

"We're really pleased with Judge Mean's opinion," said ACLU
attorney Lisa Graybill. "The ruling permanently enjoins Ms. Hadley
from stopping these protests. They're going to be able to wear
their holsters in the classroom."

Smith, who was still reviewing the ruling, declined comment until
he could consult with his attorneys.

Last fall, Means issued a temporary injunction allowing the empty-
holster protests to go forward. They were held on the Northeast
Campus and South Campus and no problems were reported.

After the lawsuit was filed, TCC revised its student handbook to
allow empty-holster protests in public areas on campus but barred
them in classrooms and hallways, saying that they would be disruptive.
During the trial in January, Hadley testified that she worried the
protests could frighten students or even allow another student to
use the protests as cover for bringing a weapon onto campus.

Hadley wasn't available for comment Monday, but TCC attorney
Angela Robinson said the college wasn't surprised by Means' ruling.

"The college approached this from a safety issue; the plaintiffs
approached this as a First Amendment issue," Robinson said.
"The court issued a very detailed opinion and it did strike a fair
balance to both sides."

Marketplace of ideas

The empty-holster protests began being held at campuses across
the country after the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting. TCC denied
empty-holster protests in April 2008 and April 2009 and limited any
protest to designated free-speech zones.

Another protest is scheduled for April and both Smith and
Schwertz have said they plan to participate.

Even though Smith, now a student at the University of Texas at
Arlington, will be allowed to participate, Means did not rule on
the issue of whether off-campus visitors can participate in the protests.
Since the college still considers Smith a student, Means said the
plaintiffs have no standing on that issue.

During the trial, Means recalled dealing with volatile protests on
the SMU campus as student body president that were allowed to
take place with the assistance of the administration. In his ruling,
Means expressed frustration that TCC did not seem to embrace
the idea that a campus is "a marketplace of ideas" for its students.