Clovis Community College, a public college in Fresno, California, is being sued for ripping down pro-life and anti-communist posters the school had already approved for public display.
Public college officials that banned anticommunist, pro-life flyers sued for personal liability | Just The News https://t.co/hxxF6Zqju8
— John Solomon (@jsolomonReports) August 12, 2022
One of the posters provided death tolls attributed to communism in China, the U.S.S.R., and various other commie strongholds, and ends with the words: “Let us ever beware the destructive influences and blind arrogance of the Left.”
They also tacked up pro-life signs on the same day the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the Dobbs decision, which would ultimately send the abortion decision to the states.
They were posted by three students, Alejandro Flores, Daniel Flores, and Juliette Colunga, all founding members of Clovis’ chapter of Young Americans for Freedom (YAF), a nationwide, conservative college group, in an effort to recruit new members. The posters were pinned up in high-traffic areas of the school.
The trouble began when “several” snowflakes individuals became “very uncomfortable” when they saw the posters. Someone allegedly threatened a “harassment” lawsuit. That’s when school officials began to have second thoughts and looked for a scheme to take the posters down.
FACT-O-RAMA! The First Amendment is a right, not a harassment.
School president Lori Bennett and other school administrators hatched a plan. The school officials decided their initial approval of the posters was a “mistake” based on the school’s “inappropriate or offensive” poster policy. Bennet then decided the school would only allow posters that were “club announcements,” even though this wasn’t on the list of rules pertaining to posters.
That’s when the posters disappeared.
FACT-O-RAMA! Commie goal #17, as read into the congressional record in 1963: “Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teacher’s associations. Put the party line in textbooks.”
After some back-and-forth between the school and the three YAF students, Clovis admins decided the posters could be hung at the school’s “free speech kiosks“—two shabby, ramshackle poster boards located behind the school where few students walk.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) came on board and launched a lawsuit against Bennet and three other school administrators involved in the anti-free speech campaign.
“No reasonable public college administrator would deny students the right to hang flyers where other students are permitted to do so because of the political or social viewpoints the flyers express,” the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit is also asking for “injunctive relief and punitive damages against the officials for reckless disregard of constitutional rights.”
A Clovis spokesperson was contacted by Just the News but said the school doesn’t comment on ongoing litigation.
You can watch a video of what’s happening in the lawsuit against Clovis below.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member