Constitution Ban at School
This time in Hawaii.
Last year a California college student was prohibited from distributing Constitution booklets outside a student center – on Constitution Day, ironically – because the student was outside the school’s “free speech zone.” Now two University of Hawaii at Hilo students are suing the school for violating their First Amendment rights. During a literature event, a school administrator allegedly ordered Merritt Burch, president of the school’s Young Americans for Liberty, and another member to stop leaving their booth to give away pocket Constitutions, despite the fact other groups were meandering to distribute their own content. The school then warned that any protest should be held on the school’s one-third acre “free speech zone.” According to one administrator, “This isn’t really the ‘60s anymore. … [P]eople can’t really protest like that anymore.” Last we checked, the Constitution still protects individuals in public places from censorship. School officials should try reading it.