University of Hawaii Sued Over Limits on First Amendment Activity on Campus

On April 24, some students at the University of Hawaii at Hilo filed a federal lawsuit, over the restrictions on passing out literature on campus. The University is a public school. The case is Burch v University of Hawaii System, 1:14cv-200.

The campus has a “free speech zone” that occupies only one-fourth of 1% of the total land area of the campus, and which has very little pedestrian traffic. The campus also allows some First Amendment activity at the Campus Center Plaza and the Library Lanai, but before those areas can be used, students must apply for permission seven working days (which is more than a week) in advance, and sometimes the administration takes weeks to respond to the request. Here is a copy of the 32-page complaint. Thanks to Darryl Perry for the link.


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.