Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Quoting from the Southworth decision...

From Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System v. Southworth, 529 U.S. 217 (2000):
It remains to discuss the referendum aspect of the University's program. While the record is not well developed on the point, it appears that by majority vote of the student body a given RSO may be funded or defunded. It is unclear to us what protection, if any, there is for viewpoint neutrality in this part of the process. To the extent the referendum substitutes majority determinations for viewpoint neutrality it would undermine the constitutional protection the program requires. The whole theory of viewpoint neutrality is that minority views are treated with the same respect as are majority views. Access to a public forum, for instance, does not depend upon majoritarian consent. That principle is controlling here.


Deciding the funding of political or religious organizations by referendum, at a public university, is blatantly unconstitutional. If the referendum passes, I will both file a civil suit and be in contact with the U.S. Attorney's office and the state Attorney General concerning conspiracy to violate civil rights.

No comments: