It's about time.

[swagner]

Just to give a quick background on this for anyone who may not have heard about it -> Steve Hinkle is a member of CPCR, the campus Republicans. CPCR had a speaker, Mason Weaver (a black political activist of sorts) planning to come to the university to speak (note that the university approved this speaker to speak at the school). Steve Hinkle was posting a flier advertising this event at the university multicultural center, and a group of students harassed him, claiming that the flier was "offensive". They even went so far as to call the university police, reporting a "suspicious white male" distributing literature of a racial nature (so much for the "multcultural" center eh?). Anyway, Hinkle was actually punished by the university for posting this university-approved flier for a university-approved event in a public place at the university (go figure). Hinkle sued the university with the help of FIRE, and finally won. Check it out :

Major Victory for Free Speech at Cal Poly
University Settles Lawsuit, Abandons Effort to Defend Censorship

SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA—In a major victory for liberty and equal rights on campus, California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) has settled a free speech lawsuit. The case involved Cal Poly student Steve Hinkle, who was punished for posting a flier on a public bulletin board announcing a College Republicans-sponsored speech by a black social critic. Some students at the campus Multicultural Center found the flier "offensive." See the flier here. Cal Poly has agreed to expunge Hinkle's disciplinary record relating to the incident, to permit him to post fliers, and to pay significant attorney's fees. The settlement of the lawsuit ends a year-long campaign organized by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) to restore the Bill of Rights and fundamental fairness to this public university. You can find out more about the history of the Hinkle case here.

"We are pleased that free speech has been upheld at Cal Poly, but we truly are stunned that this university fought so desperately to deny a student's most fundamental rights," said Alan Charles Kors, Chairman of FIRE. He added, "Cal Poly's example sends a warning to university administrators everywhere who deny rights and legal equality: You will fail in the court of public opinion; you will fail in the courts of law; and you will be held accountable by the citizens whose freedom you hold in contempt."

FIRE Legal Network attorney Carol Sobel filed the federal lawsuit against Cal Poly on September 25, 2003, in conjunction with the Center for Individual Rights (CIR), a nonprofit public interest law firm. The complaint asked the court to overturn Cal Poly's punishment of Steve Hinkle and to clear his record of any wrongdoing. Sobel and CIR also sought a ruling that Cal Poly's interpretation of "disruption"—whi ch had been used to punish Hinkle's clearly protected speech—was unconstitutional.

The incident that led to the lawsuit occurred on November 12, 2002, when Hinkle attempted to post a flier in the common area of the campus Multicultural Center that advertised a speech by Mason Weaver, author of the book It's OK to Leave the Plantation. Weaver argues that dependence on government puts many African Americans in circumstances similar to slavery. The flier displayed only the title of the book, the time and place of the event, and a picture of the author. Several students at the Multicultural Center objected that the poster was "offensive." Hinkle offered to discuss the flier, but to no avail. After he left, a student called the university police, whose official report stated that officers had responded to complaints about "a suspicious white male passing out literature of an offensive racial nature."

The Cal Poly Judicial Affairs Office, after a seven-hour hearing in February 2003, found Hinkle guilty of "disruption of a campus event," as several students in the Multicultural Center public area claimed that they were having a meeting at the time, although no sign, announcement, or record of that event existed. For engaging in constitutionally protected expression, he was ordered to write letters of apology to the offended students. Failure to do so could lead to severe disciplinary penalties. Hinkle contacted FIRE in March 2003. FIRE wrote twice to Cal Poly President Warren Baker and, after the university refused to restore Hinkle's rights, began a national campaign of public exposure. FIRE also coordinated the now-settled September 2003 lawsuit, which received widespread public attention.

Under the settlement, Cal Poly agrees to clear the incident from Hinkle's disciplinary record and pledges not to interfere with Hinkle's right to post promotional fliers. Cal Poly also repudiates its overbroad definition of "disruption" and agrees that "disruption" actually must be willful and must "materially and substantially disrupt a University activity or the orderly operation of the University."

Curt Levey, CIR's director of legal and public affairs, explained the importance of the victory: "Thanks to the work of FIRE and CIR, it has become more difficult for schools to punish students for the ‘crime' of ‘offensive' speech." "However," he added, "this progress is endangered when schools attempt to use a charge of disruption as a pretext for censoring speech. Fortunately, Steve Hinkle's victory will serve to discourage such attempts at Cal Poly and beyond."

Greg Lukianoff, FIRE's director of legal and public advocacy, remarked, "The settlement brings an end to a bizarre and outrageous attempt to suppress free speech. Cal Poly's injustice has plagued an innocent student for the past year and a half." Lukianoff continued, "Unfortunately, the university's action comes too late for California taxpayers, who, in the midst of a serious fiscal crisis, must now foot the $40,000 bill for Cal Poly President Baker's contempt for the U.S. Constitution."

The Center for Individual Rights (www.cir-usa.org) is a nonprofit public interest law firm dedicated to the defense of individual liberties. CIR provides free legal representation to deserving clients who cannot otherwise afford or obtain legal counsel and whose individual rights are threatened.

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education is a nonprofit educational foundation. FIRE unites civil rights and civil liberties leaders, scholars, journalists, and public intellectuals across the political and ideological spectrum on behalf of individual rights, freedom of expression, freedom of conscience, and due process on our nation's campuses. FIRE's efforts to preserve liberty at Cal Poly and elsewhere can be seen by visiting www.thefire.org.

CONTACT:
Greg Lukianoff, Director of Legal and Public Advocacy, FIRE: 215-717-3473; greg@thefire.org
Curt Levey, Center for Individual Rights: 202-833-8400 x114; levey@cir-usa.org
Warren J. Baker, President, Cal Poly: 805-756-6000; wbaker@calpoly.edu
Cornel N. Morton, Vice President for Student Affairs, Cal Poly: 805-756-1521; cmorton@calpoly.edu
Ardith Tregenza, Director of Judicial Affairs, Cal Poly: 805-756-2794; atregenz@calpoly.edu

[JPWRana]

stupid ass president. Why isn't that $40,000 bill taken away from HIS paycheck?!?! there still seems 2 be injustice as WE... the student have 2 pay for the mutha ____a's bigotry mistrake.

[Admin]

What is your stand on this case swagner?

Originally Posted by swagner

Anyway, Hinkle was actually punished by the university for posting this university-approved flier for a university-approved event in a public place at the university (go figure).

By the university as in the 'Board of Directors?' I'm sure not all the members from the board was responsible of their action. But what I do not understand is if the university multicultural center approved of the flyer, shouldn't they have defended Hinkle during the accusation?

Thanks for sharing the article. Was the news on the school newspaper or on anothe media? Lastly, what is the name of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo newspaper?

[Bryansix]

I doubt anything like that would ever happen at the real Cal Poly (READ: CPP)

BTW I'm happy he won the case. That flyer is not racist, simply it is designed to make people think about being dependant on somebody else, namely the government when you have the freedom not to be.

[swagner]

Kaycee -> To post fliers on the campus, they have to get approved through ASI. The fliers were approved, and I'm astonished that the university did not defend Hinkle. Most people around campus tend to support him, you can read about it in our school newspaper (the Mustang Daily). www.mustangdaily.edu.

Byransix -> Last time I checked the original Cal Poly was in SLO ;-) I'm happy he won the case too; its amazing what you can and can't post at the "multicultural" center these days.

[swagner]

Kaycee -> almopst forgot to mention, this actually made it to a national news audience. Hinkle appeard on FOX's Hannity & Colmes. and it was also mentioned in the LA and New York Times.

[Admin]

I found more parts to this case (Source Google Groups):


Cal Poly Student Punished for Posting Flier
Date: Wednesday, July 09 @ 08:23:36 EDT
Topic: Legal Bias

Public University Gives Heckler's Veto to Students Who
Claim "Offense"
SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA-In the spring of 2003, a student at
the California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) was found guilty of
"disruption" for posting a flier-in a public area-that some students found
"offensive." The public university placed unequal rights above the Bill of
Rights. "Allowing some individuals to veto the protected expression of
others is an unconscionable betrayal of Cal Poly's moral and legal
obligations," said Thor L. Halvorssen, CEO of the Foundation for Individual
Rights in Education (FIRE).

On November 12, 2002, Steve Hinkle, an undergraduate and a
member of the Cal Poly College Republicans (CPCR), posted fliers advertising
a speech by Mason Weaver, author of It's OK to Leave the Plantation. In that
book, Weaver argues that dependence on the government puts many
African-Americans in circumstances similar to slavery. Weaver's speech was
sponsored by both CPCR and the student government. The flier contained
merely the title of the book, a photograph of the author (who is
African-American), and the time and location of the speech.



When Hinkle sought to post a flier on a public bulletin
board in the Multicultural Center, several students approached him. They
claimed that they were "offended" by the flier and that it was in violation
of the Center's posting policy. Hinkle left to check the policy, confirming
that he was indeed in compliance. While he was gone, one of the students
called the university police. The officer summoned to the Center stated in
writing that he was investigating a report of "a suspicious white male
passing out literature of an offensive racial nature."

The students in the Multicultural Center admit trying to
prevent Hinkle from advertising the event. Charges were brought not against
these censors, however, but against Hinkle himself. On January 29, 2003, Cal
Poly charged Hinkle with "disruption" of a "campus event." The students who
objected to the posting of the flier claimed that they were holding a Bible
study dinner and meeting at the time of the incident. The university's
"finding of facts" notes that the Bible study group is not officially
recognized, that the bulletin board is in a public "student lounge area,"
and that no notice of any kind indicated that a meeting was underway at the
time.

In February, Cal Poly subjected Hinkle to a lengthy
hearing. He was denied the right to have a lawyer present at the
proceedings, but his faculty advisor made a transcript. At that hearing,
Cornel Morton, vice president for student affairs, told Hinkle: "You are a
young white male member of CPCR. To students of color, this may be a
collision of experience.. The chemistry has racial implications, and you are
naïve not to acknowledge those."

On March 12, Vice Provost W. David Conn found Hinkle
guilty. Conn ordered Hinkle to write letters of apology to the offended
students. The sentencing letter from Conn stated that the text of the
apology would be subject to the approval of the Office of Judicial Affairs.
The letter also warned that "there is no parameter or guarantee regarding
the confidentiality of the letter [of apology]" and that "this decision is
final." Conn informed Hinkle that if he did not accept this punishment, he
would face much stiffer penalties, up to expulsion.

Hinkle submitted his case to FIRE. On April 15, 2003, Greg
Lukianoff, FIRE's director of legal and public advocacy, wrote to Cal Poly
President Warren J. Baker, urging him to defend Steve Hinkle's fundamental
constitutional rights. Lukianoff demonstrated the absurdity of a
"disruption" charge against someone who was silently posting, on a public
bulletin board, a flier for an approved campus event. Moreover, Lukianoff
wrote, the "disrupted" students were "not a recognized student group and the
'meeting' was therefore not a 'campus function.' Ironically, Mr. Hinkle was
actually posting fliers for an event that was sponsored by a recognized
student group and by the student government, and it is he who has the far
better claim to 'campus function' status."

Lukianoff continued: "All accounts agree that Mr. Hinkle,
who only wanted to post a flier, was then approached by the students-not the
other way around." Hinkle's accusers, he noted, "themselves initiated what
they later claimed was his 'disruption'..If they had allowed Mr. Hinkle to
go about his constitutionally protected activity, there would have been no
'disruption' at all. All of this leads FIRE to draw the obvious conclusion:
Mr. Hinkle and the CPCR are being punished for the content of their
expression."

On May 9, 2003, Cal Poly's legal counsel, Carlos Cordova,
responded to FIRE's letter. Cordova denied any wrongdoing and did not
substantively address any of FIRE's specific concerns. Today, Steve Hinkle
remains punished for trying to post a factual, simple, and constitutionally
protected flier.

"I have been distracted from my studies because a handful
of my fellow students want to see me punished for the content of my flier,"
Hinkle said. "With FIRE in my corner, I now hope that Cal Poly will be made
to respect my free speech rights."

"Cal Poly grants selected students abusive control over
the expression of other students," Halvorssen noted. "Disagreement, now
called 'offense,' is all it takes to get Cal Poly administrators to launch
an inquiry and secure a conviction on a spurious charge of 'disruption.' Cal
Poly gives some people the power to veto what others have to say. Students
at that institution now live in insecure possession of their most basic
First Amendment rights."

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education is a
nonprofit educational foundation. FIRE unites civil rights and civil
liberties leaders, scholars, journalists, and public intellectuals across
the political and ideological spectrum on behalf of individual rights,
freedom of expression, freedom of conscience, and due process on our nation'
s campuses. FIRE's efforts to preserve liberty at Cal Poly and elsewhere can
be seen by visiting www.thefire.org.