Student demonstrators charged at UA

The case comes from the University of Arizona where students disrupted a Career Day presentation by Border Patrol agents.

Normally in these cases, the students doing the disrupting get off with no punishment or, at most, a light slap on the wrist. But that’s not how it’s gone down so far at the University of Arizona.

Instead, the UA campus police filed criminal misdemeanor charges of “interference with the peaceful conduct of an educational institution” against three disruptors, and the leader of the shout-down was also charged with “threats and intimidation.”

Moreover, UA President Robert Robbins backed up the campus police. “Student protest is protected by our support for free speech,” said Robbins, “but disruption is not.”

Robbins’ stance should be understood in the context of the new legal landscape in Arizona. A year ago, as I reported here, the state enacted a campus free speech law that includes robust protections against shout-downs. That law is based on a model published by Arizona’s Goldwater Institute and co-written by Stanley Kurtz.

Unlike more limited laws passed in some states, the Arizona bill includes provisions for the discipline of those who engage in shout-downs. It also establishes an oversight system to ensure that administrators actually enforce the law’s provisions.

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