The College Fix

Almost a year ago, Paradise Valley Community College (PVCC) student Brittany Mirelez sued her school for requiring students to get permission 48 hours ahead of demonstrations and relegating them to a single free speech zone that was only available during business hours – if it wasn’t already reserved.

Now the Maricopa County Community College District is removing those speech restrictions at all 10 of its campuses in the Phoenix area – and paying the students $15,000 for legal fees – in order to settle the lawsuit.

The Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented Mirelez and fellow student Richard Shemberger, said Monday that the district’s new policy eliminates restrictions on speech on “public sidewalks, walkways, lawns, and other outdoor areas.”

MORE: Public college crushes ‘spontaneous’ speech with 48-hour permission rule

The students dismissed the lawsuit Friday.

Mirelez was tabling for Young Americans for Liberty in the free speech zone when an administrator approached her and said she needed prior permission. She was told to move her activity into the cafeteria – where free speech was not allowed – as a special one-time offer.

The lawsuit challenged PVCC’s policy of letting administrators “consider the content and viewpoint” of student groups that requested to use the free speech zone, ostensibly to ensure that the message “will not violate PVCC’s harassment or other policies.”

Alliance Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer said in a statement:

Colleges shouldn’t short-circuit their own purpose by placing their own restrictive speech rules above the freedoms that the First Amendment guarantees to students and all Americans. We commend MCCCD for working with us to return free speech to their students while on campus.

Read the alliance statement and the revised policy.

MORE: Colo. students take aim at speech zones that restrict political activity

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