Free speech oh college campuses is sacred, except when it isn’t. Leftists have unleashed a reign of terror on those that don’t mimic the leftist line. The most common tactic is to equate speech with behavior. The problem arises when practice collides with rhetoric. Fordham University is about to find that out.
A Chinese American student, Austin Tong, has been banned from campus for posting a photo of himself armed with an AR 15.
As a private institution, Fordham is not bound by the First Amendment. So Tong hasn’t got a leg to stand on in regard to a civil rights violation.
But it is bound by the explicit, repeated, and unequivocal promises of freedom of expression it makes to its students, including in its own mission statement. It seems like the student manual, complete with mission statement in effect constitutes a contract.
“Fordham strives for excellence in research and teaching and guarantees the freedom of inquiry required by rigorous thinking and the quest for truth.”
Fordham University Mission statement
According to the allegations in Tong’s lawsuit: Fordham allegedly failing to “substantially adhere[] to its own published rules and guidelines for disciplinary proceedings,” Fordham has already lost a lawsuit along these same lines in New York State Courts.
In California, a real estate attorney contacted the Redwood city administration after the city pained a BLM statement on a city street. Maria Rutenberg didn’t complain. She merely asked the city to install a MAGA 2020 sign on the street. The city removed the BLM sign.
https://sputniknews.com/us/202007221079948933-california-city-removes-blm-sign-after-resident-asks-to-paint-maga-2020-on-same-street/
Unlike a private university a municipality has to abide by the First Amendment. A government entity can approve or disapprove of signage. However, that judgment has to be content neutral. Redwood was faced with an all or nothing at all proposition.
The movement is spreading. A women’s group in New York has sued to obtain their own piece of the street.
The City of San Antonio spent $32,000 to paint a rainbow crosswalk. WOAI has the story at the link. Last week San Antonio City Council members voted unanimously to repaint the crosswalk at the intersection of North Main and East Evergreen in rainbow colors in honor of LBGT pride.
https://news4sanantonio.com/news/trouble-shooters/breaking-down-the-cost-of-the-new-rainbow-crosswalk
The City can weasel all they want. Painting a crosswalk in the rainbow pattern is making a political statement.
As a retired cop, I’m thinking about asking the city to paint my choice of banner.
Liberals are cowards. So much of what they espouse is bullshit without basis in fact or law. Noble statements and expressed high minded sentiments are expressed as camouflage to shield their real intentions. They are allowed to get away with the crap they push because nobody challenges them. In part that is because most folks have a life and they are busy with things that are of more immediate concern.
The incidents related here show that there is no need to “make it a federal case.” Push back!
