A former student has filed a lawsuit against Jones County Junior College for what he said was infringement against his first amendment rights of free speech.
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court on behalf of J. Michael Brown, who is now a student at Southern Miss, according to the Mississippi Center for Public Policy.
Brown alleged that he was stopped twice by campus officials, once for a “free speech” beach ball event in which students could write a message on the ball and pass it around, and another time for stopping him from polling students regarding marijuana legislation.
According to the Clarion-Ledger, there’s a filing process for a permit to hold such events that includes a three-day waiting period.
While such regulations are often in place for off-campus organizations to host an event on campus, overall regulations cannot be placed on students’ rights to free speech.
Complaint Brown v. Jones Co… by Chris Thies on Scribd
“Some people get in trouble for smoking weed, but at Jones College, I got in trouble just for trying to talk about it,” Brown said in a statement. “That’s not what college is for. We’re supposed to debate openly about important issues, especially ones with huge national significance.”
Y’all Politics will continue to follow this story.
Courtney Ingle
