U. of Washington Settles Campus Republicans’ Free-Speech Lawsuit for $127,000
By Teghan Simonton
June 18, 2018
U. of Washington
The U. of Washington will pay $127,000 to settle a lawsuit by its College Republicans chapter over a security fee the university imposed for a campus event involving a right-wing group.
The University of Washington will pay $127,000 in legal fees to lawyers for the university’s College Republicans to settle a free-speech lawsuit filed by the group, The Seattle Timesreports.
The College Republicans chapter sued after the university tried to charge a $17,000 security fee for the group to hold a campus rally in February with the right-wing group Patriot Prayer. A federal district-court judge blocked the fee.
The rally took place as scheduled, protesters and counterprotesters clashed several times, and a number of people were arrested.
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U. of Washington
The U. of Washington will pay $127,000 to settle a lawsuit by its College Republicans chapter over a security fee the university imposed for a campus event involving a right-wing group.
The University of Washington will pay $127,000 in legal fees to lawyers for the university’s College Republicans to settle a free-speech lawsuit filed by the group, The Seattle Timesreports.
The College Republicans chapter sued after the university tried to charge a $17,000 security fee for the group to hold a campus rally in February with the right-wing group Patriot Prayer. A federal district-court judge blocked the fee.
The rally took place as scheduled, protesters and counterprotesters clashed several times, and a number of people were arrested.
In the lawsuit, the student club argued that it was being discriminated against and that the university’s actions violated “fundamental principles of free speech, equal protection, and due process,” according to a letter to the university’s president from William J. Becker, president and general counsel of the law and advocacy firm Freedom X.
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The University of Washington had argued that the fee was necessary so that it could hire security officers to guarantee public safety during the event. According to the settlement, the university said it would stop charging such fees unless a group specifically requests that security be present. The settlement states, however, that nothing in the agreement prevents the university from imposing a “constitutionally permissible security fee” for campus events.
“The University of Washington strongly supports a free and open exchange of opinions and ideas,” said Victoria Balta, a spokeswoman for the university, in a written statement. “We have a responsibility to our campus community to ensure that safety and security are maintained during any event held on campus, and we are pleased that the settlement preserves our ability to develop a long-term solution that balances free speech and campus safety without passing the burden of sometimes significant security costs on to all students.”
Last year a man was shot on the campus outside a speech by the right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos, and the university’s president, Ana Mari Cauce, subsequently said that she cannot promise the safety of people on the campus.
