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Pierce College student’s free-speech lawsuit can proceed, judge rules </span>
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<div class="gmail-image-wrapper"><img alt="0329_nws_ldn_l_pierce_kevin_shaw_large_12" title="" class="gmail-size-article_feature gmail-lazyautosizes gmail-lazyloaded" src="https://www.dailynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/0329_nws_ldn_l_pierce_kevin_shaw_large_12.jpg?w=525"></div> <figcaption>
Student Kevin Shaw stands in the free speech area at Pierce
College in Woodland Hills in a 2017 photo taken by Dawn Bowery of the
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. </figcaption>
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<div class="gmail-meta"><a href="https://www.dailynews.com/2018/01/18/pierce-college-students-free-speech-lawsuit-can-proceed-judge-rules/#comments" class="gmail-comments-link"><span class="gmail-dsq-postid" rel="2716939 https://www.dailynews.com?p=2716939&preview_id=2716939"></span></a><div class="gmail-byline">By <a href="https://www.dailynews.com/author/kevin-modesti/" title="Posts by Kevin Modesti" class="gmail-author-name" rel="author">Kevin Modesti</a> | <a href="mailto:kmodesti@scng.com">kmodesti@scng.com</a> | Daily News</div><div class="gmail-time">PUBLISHED: <time datetime="2018-01-19T00:37:43+00:00">January 18, 2018 at 4:37 pm</time> | UPDATED: <time class="gmail-updated" datetime="2018-01-19T00:40:21+00:00">January 18, 2018 at 4:40 pm</time></div></div></div><p>WOODLAND
HILLS — A Pierce College student who drew national attention with his
claim that a campus “free speech zone” policy infringes on his First
Amendment rights may proceed with his lawsuit, a U.S. District Court
judge said this week.</p>
<p>Rejecting a motion by <a href="http://www.piercecollege.edu/">Pierce</a> and the <a href="https://www.laccd.edu/Pages/default.aspx">Los Angeles Community College District</a>
to dismiss the suit, Judge Otis D. Wright II of the United States
District Court for the Central District of California cited previous
court decisions upholding people’s right to express their opinions in
public places and the role of colleges in encouraging the exchange of
ideas.</p>
<p>The district court did grant one motion from the defense, dismissing
student Kevin Shaw’s claim for monetary damages against college
administrators based on public officials’ immunity from liability for
decisions made in their official roles.</p>
<p>But overall, the order issued Monday was an incremental victory for
Shaw and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), whose
attorneys helped to bring the lawsuit.</p>
<p>It also should gladden the U.S. Department of Justice, which <a href="https://www.dailynews.com/2017/10/24/justice-department-signals-support-of-student-lawsuit-in-pierce-college-free-speech-case/">has supported the suit.</a></p>
<p>The suit challenges a Pierce College policy that prevented Shaw from
distributing Spanish-language copies of the U.S. Constitution and
recruit members for the a chapter of the libertarian-conservative group
Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) outside the 616-square-foot “free
speech zone” on the 426-acre campus in the San Fernando Valley community
of Woodland Hills.</p>
<p>“The court’s ruling sends an important message to colleges nationwide
that still restrict student speech to free speech zones,” FIRE Director
of Litigation Marieke Tuthill Beck-Coon said in a statement. “The
campus is a college student’s public square. It’s their place to be
engaged citizens.</p>
<p>“The public recognizes this. So do courts across the country. Now it’s time for LACCD to follow suit.”</p>
<p>LACCD spokesman Yusef Robb said the district doesn’t comment on
pending litigation, but said in a statement: “We are fully committed to
free expression on our campuses. As a community college district,
promoting the free exchange of ideas and knowledge is at the core of
what we do, every day.”</p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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