GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – A student at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College filed a federal lawsuit against the school, claiming her First Amendment rights were violated when she was prohibited from handing out religious-themed Valentine’s Day cards.
“I love my school and I hate to do this, but I love my freedom, my country and my God more.”
Polly Olsen says she was approached by campus security and told she needed to stop because she was not in the designated area open for free expression.
“I also knew our constitution and that it was my right as a U.S. citizen to hand these out.”
She says she was also told that some people may find her valentines “offensive” and that she was soliciting” on campus.
“I would like the policy changed and made constitutional so that all students have the same rights.
Rick Essenberg, President and General Counsel for Wisconsin Institute For Law and Liberty says the lawsuit is not about money, but rather about defending what is right.
“Not only is this bad policy for a university, but it is unconstitutional for a public university. A public university simply does not have the right to restrict the free expression of its students to a small area. This is a case about if a public university can put free speech in a box.”
Polly Olsen claims she was not being disruptive, was not a threat, and that the suppression was “based, in part, on the religious content of the cards.”
The suit claims that the policy is itself unconstitutional.
“The Defendants have maintained and enforced a set of policies that unconstitutionally restrict the First Amendment rights of the Plaintiff and other students at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College by, among other things, restricting expressive activities to a tiny portion of campus, requiring prior approval even within that tiny area, and arrogating to administrators unfettered discretion as to whether to confer that approval, and enacting broad and vague restrictions on speech throughout campus,” it states.
NWTC’s vice president of advancement, Karen Smits the campus had started looking into that policy, months before the February incident.
“We proactively started looking into it in October of 2017.”
Smits says looking into policies is typical protocol, but this began prior to Olsen filing her discrimination complaint.
Smits says a revision that would increase the size of the “free speech zone” has been drafted, but is waiting for final approval.
“We feel that we are kind of on the path to having this thing published,” Smits said.
The school is inviting Olsen to review the revised policy.
Olsen is studying law.
Essenberg says the lawsuit is not about money, but rather about defending what is right.
Read NWTC’s Policy Here
