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June 27, 2002, 4:49PM- Houston Chronicle
Despite ruling, UH won't allow abortion photos in Butler Plaza
Fueling the controversy over free speech restrictions on campus, University of Houston officials say they will not follow a judge's order and allow an anti-abortion group to display large pictures of dead fetuses where it wants.
U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein Jr. ruled last week that UH must allow the student group Pro-Life Cougars to put up the controversial display this fall in the heavily trafficked Butler Plaza, near UH's Hoffman Hall and M.D. Anderson Library. The judge concluded that UH violated the group's First Amendment rights to free speech and 14th Amendment rights to equal protection last October by not permitting the display in the plaza.
UH spokesman Mike Cinelli said Werlein's order is moot because it only applies to a previous university policy on regulating speech. He said a new policy enacted Tuesday will allow UH to restrict the proposed display to one of four so-called "free speech zones" in less visible areas of campus.
"This whole issue is really a case about where free speech will occur as opposed to the ability to express free speech," Cinelli said.
Free speech zones were created in the 1960s to try to control potentially disruptive speech in the wake of massive student activism. Universities have sometimes been criticized for using such zones to banish potentially offensive speech to lightly trafficked areas.
While Werlein did not specifically address the new policy, Benjamin C. Bull, a Scottsdale, Ariz., attorney who represents Pro-Life Cougars, said Werlein's statements regarding First Amendment law are broad and "universal in application."
"The court has given the university a road map on how to enact a policy that passes constitutional muster, and they have burned it before our very eyes," Bull said.
Bull, who works for the conservative Christian nonprofit group Alliance Defense Fund, said the university is trying to circumvent the judge's order by citing the new policy.
Bull maintained the university is trying to stop the display from going up in Butler Plaza solely because of the content, which would be unconstitutional.
The previous UH policy listed the same four free speech zones as the new policy, and last fall UH offered Pro-Life Cougars the chance to erect the display in one of these areas.
Werlein said the old policy was unconstitutional because it gave UH dean of students William F. Munson "unfettered discretion" in determining what events could be at Butler Plaza.
The new policy will pass constitutional muster because it has specific guidelines on regulating the time, place and manner of free speech, Cinelli said. UH officials have denied the previous policy was unconstitutional.
Some experts say anti-abortion groups have been at the forefront of testing the constitutionality of free speech zones. The proposed UH exhibit, which is about 15 feet tall, travels around the country and is funded by the anti-abortion group Justice for All, based in Wichita, Kan.
The same exhibit was allowed on Butler Plaza in March 2001, leading to student protests and partly causing UH to form a committee that summer to re-evaluate its free speech policy, Cinelli said.
The exhibit also caused the University of Texas and Baylor University to re-examine their free speech policies after controversies erupted in those universities last year.
"The photos used by anti-abortion group are aggressive, and they're also aggressive in their demands for access as they go from campus to campus," said UT law professor Doug Laycock, who heads a UT committee drafting a new policy.
James Spencer, general counsel for Justice for All, said after touring Texas universities last year, the exhibit went to Colorado State University, the University of New Mexico and the University of California at Los Angeles. He said the exhibit has generated student protests and disagreements with administrators at many schools, but UH is the only university that has been sued over its restrictions.
Some students on campus during the summer session had mixed reactions to Werlein's ruling.
Brooke Skeen, a senior from Pasadena majoring in English literature and minoring in women's studies, said it was "ridiculous."
"The student body was outraged" about the Spring 2001 display, she said.
Michael Rodriguez, a senior majoring in anthropology, disagreed. "This is supposed to be a place of higher education that supports the sharing of ideas," Rodriguez said. "They can't say to someone `go to a corner and stay where nobody will see you.' "
Werlein said because Butler Plaza has historically been used as an area for student expression, it constitutes a "public forum." Because of this, the judge said, restrictions on the use of Butler Plaza must be narrowly tailored.
Since the proposed display for the fall of 2001 was rejected, Munson has not allowed any student speech at Butler Plaza, saying it could all be disruptive.
Werlein said the decision was made "rather astonishingly" because it led to the removal of a Christmas tree from the plaza and prevented UH cheerleaders from practicing there. Munson even testified he would not allow "the silent expression of a single student on the plaza holding a small sign proclaiming "The World is a Beautiful Place."
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Should only politically correct protests be allowed on campus or should these types of protests only be allowed in a corner somewhere where no one is likely see them?
Despite ruling, UH won't allow abortion photos in Butler Plaza
Fueling the controversy over free speech restrictions on campus, University of Houston officials say they will not follow a judge's order and allow an anti-abortion group to display large pictures of dead fetuses where it wants.
U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein Jr. ruled last week that UH must allow the student group Pro-Life Cougars to put up the controversial display this fall in the heavily trafficked Butler Plaza, near UH's Hoffman Hall and M.D. Anderson Library. The judge concluded that UH violated the group's First Amendment rights to free speech and 14th Amendment rights to equal protection last October by not permitting the display in the plaza.
UH spokesman Mike Cinelli said Werlein's order is moot because it only applies to a previous university policy on regulating speech. He said a new policy enacted Tuesday will allow UH to restrict the proposed display to one of four so-called "free speech zones" in less visible areas of campus.
"This whole issue is really a case about where free speech will occur as opposed to the ability to express free speech," Cinelli said.
Free speech zones were created in the 1960s to try to control potentially disruptive speech in the wake of massive student activism. Universities have sometimes been criticized for using such zones to banish potentially offensive speech to lightly trafficked areas.
While Werlein did not specifically address the new policy, Benjamin C. Bull, a Scottsdale, Ariz., attorney who represents Pro-Life Cougars, said Werlein's statements regarding First Amendment law are broad and "universal in application."
"The court has given the university a road map on how to enact a policy that passes constitutional muster, and they have burned it before our very eyes," Bull said.
Bull, who works for the conservative Christian nonprofit group Alliance Defense Fund, said the university is trying to circumvent the judge's order by citing the new policy.
Bull maintained the university is trying to stop the display from going up in Butler Plaza solely because of the content, which would be unconstitutional.
The previous UH policy listed the same four free speech zones as the new policy, and last fall UH offered Pro-Life Cougars the chance to erect the display in one of these areas.
Werlein said the old policy was unconstitutional because it gave UH dean of students William F. Munson "unfettered discretion" in determining what events could be at Butler Plaza.
The new policy will pass constitutional muster because it has specific guidelines on regulating the time, place and manner of free speech, Cinelli said. UH officials have denied the previous policy was unconstitutional.
Some experts say anti-abortion groups have been at the forefront of testing the constitutionality of free speech zones. The proposed UH exhibit, which is about 15 feet tall, travels around the country and is funded by the anti-abortion group Justice for All, based in Wichita, Kan.
The same exhibit was allowed on Butler Plaza in March 2001, leading to student protests and partly causing UH to form a committee that summer to re-evaluate its free speech policy, Cinelli said.
The exhibit also caused the University of Texas and Baylor University to re-examine their free speech policies after controversies erupted in those universities last year.
"The photos used by anti-abortion group are aggressive, and they're also aggressive in their demands for access as they go from campus to campus," said UT law professor Doug Laycock, who heads a UT committee drafting a new policy.
James Spencer, general counsel for Justice for All, said after touring Texas universities last year, the exhibit went to Colorado State University, the University of New Mexico and the University of California at Los Angeles. He said the exhibit has generated student protests and disagreements with administrators at many schools, but UH is the only university that has been sued over its restrictions.
Some students on campus during the summer session had mixed reactions to Werlein's ruling.
Brooke Skeen, a senior from Pasadena majoring in English literature and minoring in women's studies, said it was "ridiculous."
"The student body was outraged" about the Spring 2001 display, she said.
Michael Rodriguez, a senior majoring in anthropology, disagreed. "This is supposed to be a place of higher education that supports the sharing of ideas," Rodriguez said. "They can't say to someone `go to a corner and stay where nobody will see you.' "
Werlein said because Butler Plaza has historically been used as an area for student expression, it constitutes a "public forum." Because of this, the judge said, restrictions on the use of Butler Plaza must be narrowly tailored.
Since the proposed display for the fall of 2001 was rejected, Munson has not allowed any student speech at Butler Plaza, saying it could all be disruptive.
Werlein said the decision was made "rather astonishingly" because it led to the removal of a Christmas tree from the plaza and prevented UH cheerleaders from practicing there. Munson even testified he would not allow "the silent expression of a single student on the plaza holding a small sign proclaiming "The World is a Beautiful Place."
-------------------------------------
Should only politically correct protests be allowed on campus or should these types of protests only be allowed in a corner somewhere where no one is likely see them?
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