Lawsuit prompts UH policy changes

A lawsuit brought by two students claiming their First Amendment rights were violated by the University of Hawaii at Hilo has resulted in a systemwide revision of the university’s free-speech policy.

The University of Hawaii on Tuesday agreed to settle the complaint filed in district court by UH-Hilo students Merritt Burch and Anthony Vizzone, who sued after one administrator stopped Burch from passing out copies of the U.S. Constitution and another told both of them to take their protest against National Security Agency spying to a remote "free speech zone."

As part of the settlement, the university updated its systemwide policies to allow free speech and the distribution of literature in all areas generally open to students and the community without requiring students to seek permission first.

UH also agreed to pay $50,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees.

A statement issued by the university Tuesday said, "We are pleased to have resolved this lawsuit. As a public institution, the University of Hawaii is committed to upholding the constitutional rights of expression of its students."

In the complaint, Burch said she was attending a university-sponsored event in January where various student groups set up tables and distributed information.

Burch, who is president of the Hilo chapter of Young Americans for Liberty, said a university official stopped her after she began approaching students to hand out copies of the Constitution and cards explaining her organization’s mission.

The molecular biology student said she was told, "This isn’t really the ’60s anymore" and that UH policy prohibits student organizations from approaching people to solicit information.

The lawsuit noted that UH-Hilo further restricted free speech by requiring students to seek permission seven working days in advance of engaging in "expressive activity" in two central outdoor areas on campus. Otherwise, students were limited to a "free speech zone" — a space described as a "tiny area (that) slopes downward toward a muddy ravine" at the edge of the 115-acre campus.

Less than a month after the lawsuit was filed, UH-Hilo announced it would stop limiting student expression to the "free speech zone."

The university’s new systemwide policy, dated Dec. 1, allows noncommercial free speech and assembly in "open areas, sidewalks, walkways or internal streets or other similar common areas" as long as the activity doesn’t impede passers-by and doesn’t disrupt "the educational process."

The university administration may establish campus-specific "viewpoint-neutral" guidelines governing time, place and manner of free-speech activities, according to the policy. "In creating these guidelines, chancellors may recognize that some campus buildings or areas warrant special restrictions."

The policy also creates a dispute resolution process for students who believe their First Amendment rights have been violated.

"Now students across the University of Hawaii system can exercise their First Amendment rights without fear that they will be disciplined," Burch said in a statement.

"It’s great to see these changes and to know that we can express ourselves freely throughout campus," Vizzone added.

The students were represented by the Washington, D.C., firm of Davis Wright Tre­maine and assisted by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. The firm successfully settled a similar suit earlier this year against Modesto Junior College in Cali­for­nia, which awarded the student plaintiff $50,000 and revised its policies to allow free speech in open areas across campus.