No Permits Needed for Faith

Campus Report ^ | January 30, 2009 | Bethany Stotts

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No Permits Needed for Faith

by: Bethany Stotts, January 30, 2009

In response to an Alliance Defense Fund-backed lawsuit, Yuba Community College District in California has decided to drop disciplinary actions against a Christian student who had proselytized on campus without a permit. As the Chronicle of Higher Education reports,

“The plaintiff in the case, Ryan Dozier, had been preaching Christian beliefs in a Yuba College walkway last February when the campus police stopped him and told him he needed a permit. He later received a letter accusing him of violating college policy and telling him he faced expulsion if he engaged in future infractions.” Prior to the agreement reached with ADF, the District had a speech code which “limited” the zones on campus in which “the students of the District and members of the community shall be permitted to exercise their rights of free expression.”

According to the student policy, AP 5550, prior to the settlement, “The colleges and campuses of the District are non-public forums, except for the areas designated by the Chancellor as designated public forums, which are generally available to the community and students” limited to certain defined sections of Clear Lake Campus, Woodland Community College, and Yuba College. In 2008, afer handing out tracts and engaging passersby with a Christian message, Dozier was approached by a campus police officer “telling him he needed a permit for such activity and that he would be arrested or face expulsion if he continued,” according to the ADF press release. They continue,

“Dozier later received a certified letter from the college accusing him of the ‘conducting an assembly without a permit’ and violating school policy...

[massgopguy]

For now.