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Punishment is unconstitutional, attorney says
Florida International University is disciplining seven students who staged a silent indoor anti-ICE protest during a campus event, drawing criticism from free speech advocates.
About a half hour after the March event began, seven students stood facing the crowd, wearing shirts that read, “ICE OFF FIU.” The on-campus event, hosted by FIU President Jeanette Nuñez, featured former Major League Baseball star Alex Rodriguez, according to WLRN.
The penalty requires students to record videos about the policies FIU says they violated, including a ban on “expressive activities” indoors.
Attorney Adam Saper, with a legal advocacy group called The Community Justice Project, is representing the students.
“The decision to charge these students, let alone hold them responsible and then impose punishment is not only questionable, is unjustifiable under the US and Florida Constitutions,” Saper told The College Fix via email.
He added that the school continues to claim it has grounds to defend this regulation targeting students, yet it has pointed to no statute, court decision, or constitutional provision that supports it.
Saper said that during the misconduct hearing, he pointed out that the students “are both factually innocent of the charges, and that the prosecution violates the students’ First Amendment rights.”
He also argued that no university official ever issued a request or directive that the students failed to follow, making a guilty finding impossible.
“But, because the school appears intent on silencing dissent, they were nonetheless found in violation,” Saper said.
“The students are charged with a provision of the conduct code accusing them of ‘failure to comply with the request or directive of a University Official,’” he said.
A free speech group called the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression is also concerned about FIU’s decision.
Graham Piro, faculty legal defense fund fellow, says FIU must uphold the First Amendment, especially in a time of “political tension.”
“FIRE is concerned by Florida International University’s decision to charge seven students for a demonstration about the university’s cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” Piro said.
“In a moment of heightened political tension, students must be free to speak out about the major issues of the day without facing undue punishment,” he said.
Reached for comment, FIU Associate Vice President Maydel Santana told The College Fix via email that the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act prohibits the university from discussing disciplinary matters regarding individual students.
However, she said, “A public university campus is not a single, undifferentiated public forum.”
“Rather, different areas of campus carry different forum classifications and may be subject to varying levels of regulation,” she said.
The associate vice president added that “Courts have long recognized that educational institutions retain authority to manage their facilities, protect instructional activities, preserve access to university operations, and ensure the safety and orderly functioning of the campus environment.”
Santana said that because of this, “FIU may regulate the time, place, and manner of expressive activity through content-neutral rules that are narrowly tailored to serve significant institutional interests while preserving ample opportunities for expression.”
One of the disciplined students, Kaitlyn Daley, told WLRN that while the group plans to appeal the decision, she is doubtful the university will overturn it.
“ It feels like they’re continuing to try to silence us by making this video, and I don’t wanna do that. I don’t wanna give them the power. I don’t wanna make them feel like they’re right. I don’t wanna give them the last say,” Daley said.
