The College Fix

This past Friday, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa ruled that Iowa State University officials cannot prevent the student group National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML ISU) from printing t-shirts emblazoned with a marijuana leaf.

The court found that ISU engaged in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination, and school officials did so to “maintain favor with Iowa political figures.”

As noted by The College Fix back in July of 2014, NORML ISU chief Erin Furleigh said ISU administrators had also forbade the word “marijuana” from being put on shirts.

Paul Gerlich, NORML ISU’s other leader, had noted that other student groups were “‘against us and they think it’s our fault’ that administrators [were] cracking down.”

FIRE reports:

Senior District Judge James Gritzner, who issued the ruling, observed that “[t]he development of First Amendment doctrine in the university context has repeatedly affirmed that student groups may not be denied benefits on the basis of their espoused views.” After reviewing the record, the court concluded that “Defendants took action specifically directed at NORML ISU based on their views and the political reaction to those views so that Defendants could maintain favor with Iowa political figures.”

In their original complaint, the students detailed how the university censored the group’s t-shirts based on their marijuana-related messaging and imagery, removed NORML ISU’s advisor, and implemented new guidelines for using ISU’s trademark in order to restrict NORML ISU’s speech. And in a January 2015 ruling, the court rejected every argument ISU made in its initial attempt to have the case dismissed.

The court refused “qualified immunity to the named defendants, including ISU President Steven Leath and Senior Vice President Warren Madden,” which means they could be held personally accountable for infringing on the plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights.

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