Sunday, June 14, 2015

Idaho Univ. Pays $20,000 to Unmuzzle Pro-lifers

Boise State University has agreed to pay Abolitionists4Life nominal damages plus legal fees for unfairly limiting the free speech of the pro-life student group compared to other student groups.
“I am pretty happy with the policy they [Boise State] have ended up with.”
-- Lisa Atkins, Students For Life

"Perhaps colleges are slowly getting the message – after all, they aren't even trying to defend their 'free speech zones' in court…"
-- Susan Kruth, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education
For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:

Ohio College Pays $9,000 for Censoring Christian Speech

Virginia College Lifts Muzzle on Christian Speech

Buffalo NY Univ. Charges Pro-life Students Extra $

Judge Rules Illinois College Must Accept 'Anti-Gay' Speech

Also read myriad examples of colleges and public schools censoring pro-life speech.

And read Gallup Poll Shows 'Higher Education' Indoctrinates Pro-abortion -- for example: University of Chicago Teaches Students How to Get Abortion

-- From "BSU, anti-abortion group settle free speech lawsuit" by Bill Roberts, Idaho Statesman 6/3/15

Signs were an integral part of what prompted the suit last June. Abolitionists4Life claimed that Boise State clipped its First Amendment rights when it asked the group to place warning signs around two exhibits that showed images from abortions and an autopsy photo of a woman who died having an abortion. Other groups weren’t asked to provide any signs, Abolitionists4Life said.

As part of the settlement, Boise State may either require signs that read, “Public display ahead; viewer discretion advised,” in all open spaces reserved for events, or simply require no signs at all.

The change puts people exercising their rights of free speech on an equal footing without regard to their message, said Lisa Atkins, who was president of the campus Abolitionists4Life group and was at the event last year that led to the lawsuit.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Idaho college no longer requires warning for contentious protests" by Laura Zuckerman, Reuters 6/3/15

The Alliance Defending Freedom [ADF], a conservative Christian legal organization, last year sued Boise State claiming the college deprived anti-abortion activists of their constitutional rights and unfairly targeted them by restricting where they could distribute fliers.

The lawsuit in federal court in Idaho was filed after the anti-abortion group Abolitionists4Life hosted two events on campus last spring that sought through images to “communicate its pro-life message,” the organization's senior legal counsel, David Hacker, said in a statement.

The university told Abolitionists4Life that so-called warning signs were required for events tied to issues considered controversial and that it must distribute anti-abortion pamphlets inside one of the school’s eight “speech zones,” said Hacker.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Boise State University to Pay $20,000 to Pro-Life Group After Backtracking on Censorship" by Ray Nothstine, Christian Post Contributor 6/6/15

In April and May of 2014, Abolitionists4Life hosted two events titled "Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust" and "What Has Roe Done for Us?" An official at the University demanded that the students had to use warning signs around their displays because they were deemed "controversial" in nature. The ADF pointed out in their lawsuit that the pro-life group was targeted with demands not consistent with other campus groups, including Planned Parenthood and an atheist group which both had free reign to disseminate their message on campus.

A press release by Alliance Defending Freedom quotes Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for America: "Pro-life students have every right to host events on campus as does any other student. Universities are supposed to be beacons of free speech and tolerance, not discriminatory havens of censorship where the only views tolerated are those of liberal administrators."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Boise State University Stops Making Pro-Life groups Post Warning Signs for Their Events" by Alliance Defending Freedom 6/3/15

Boise State University has allowed other groups to host events without warning signs, including Planned Parenthood, which distributed condoms on campus, and the Secular Student Alliance, which held “Does God Exist?” signs in open spaces on campus.

The university also prohibited [Abolitionists4Life] from distributing fliers outside one of the school’s eight “speech zones,” which together are limited to less than one percent of the entire campus.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Abortion Clinic Bombing Targets Pro-lifers Praying

And read myriad other examples of violence against pro-lifers.