Ohio's Sinclair Community College punished a student for handing out pro-life pamphlets to other students, issuing a statement saying that nearly the entire campus is off limits to pamphlet distribution.
For background, read Abortion-Breast Cancer Link Admitted by Feds
-- From "Sinclair student banned from distributing fliers in classroom" by Dave Larsen, Staff Writer, Dayton Daily News 4/8/11
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education [FIRE] said Sinclair banned student Ethel Borel-Donohue from distributing fliers linking abortion and birth control to cancer.
In October, Borel-Donohue distributed about 15 fliers to fellow students after a class, according to the foundation.
The foundation in February sent a letter to Sinclair President Steven Lee Johnson saying that campus policies can’t lawfully be extended to restrict all distribution of literature outside of class time. The group cited a 1979 federal district court decision against Ohio State University that said absent “material disruption” or “substantial disorder,” the distribution of literature on campus is student expression protected by the First Amendment, even if students complain about the content of the message distributed.
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From "Group: Ohio college's policy violates free speech rights" by Lisa Cornwell, Associated Press 4/8/11
The college's counsel replied with a letter last month, pointing out a section of college policy banning distribution of literature in classrooms and other working areas of campus.
Sinclair general counsel Lauren Ross said Wednesday that the policy does not violate free speech rights.
"A college has the absolute right to regulate activity like that in a classroom," Ross said.
The group said it sent a second letter to Sinclair president Steven Lee Johnson on March 23, asking him to bring the college's policies "in line with the First Amendment."
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From "Ohio College bans abortion literature" by Fergus Hodgson © 2011 WorldNetDaily 4/14/11
The pamphlets, published by a Catholic organization, asserted overwhelming evidence that abortion and oral contraceptives substantially increase a woman's risk of developing breast cancer.
But the chairman of the department, Michael Brigner, censored the material from all class areas after a complaint from a fellow student who had had an abortion. And in doing so, he revealed Sinclair's broad constraints on free speech, which go well beyond the classroom and this particular incident.
From Sinclair's policy on social and commercial activity:
"Literature may not be distributed in working areas, including: classrooms, laboratories, lecture halls, gymnasiums, libraries, offices, work stations, conference rooms, and corridors leading directly thereto which are an integral part of the work areas."
"So you can distribute literature, but you just can't do it anywhere," jibed Borel-Donohue. "I've been to several universities, but Sinclair, it seems, is really totalitarian in their control."
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