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University of Washington Sued Under Policy For Demanding $17,000 In “Security Fees” For Conservative Speaker

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download-7The University of Washington  has been sued by the schools College Republicans after it demanded the payment of $17,000 in security fees for the planned speech of Oregon activist Joey Gibson of the Patriot Prayer group. The lawsuit raises an important free speech question in whether schools can effectively bar conservative speakers by insisting that free speech is not free in a financial sense.  The imposition of prohibitive costs on groups like the College Republicans is facially neutral but potentially discriminatory in practice based on the content of speech. It also creates a system that indirectly supports “the heckler’s veto.”

 

The “Freedom X” law firm filed the complaint below alleging that the security fees are an infringement on free speech and an effective tax.

The university points out that security fees for an event in January 2017 for conservative Milo Yiannopolous ran  to more than $70,000 between UW police and Seattle police.  The event produced violent protests broke out in Red Square, including one person who was shot.

The problem is that this system give a perverse incentive for protesters to make conservative speakers prohibitively expensive.  The more violence and trouble that groups cause, the more money sponsors will have to pay.  As a result, groups will not be able to invite speakers opposed by these groups.
Both cities and colleges are supposed to be forums for free speech.  It is not a luxury for which you pay a user fee.  Those groups like Antifa are the ones causing disruptions and interfering with free speech.  However, officials are allowing these groups to shift the costs to those who are the targets of their protests.  To make matters worse, as I have discussed in prior columns, Antifa is founded on an anti-free speech philosophy and these schools have given these groups an obvious way to silence groups and speakers under the false pretense of neutrality.

UW College Republicans Complaint

 

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