Tenn. college: Student must pay solicitor fee to share faith
Tenn. Board of Regents sued after college silences Christian student, then enforces three-week waiting period, levies $30 solicitation fee
ADF attorney sound bite (6/10/11): Casey Mattox
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Alliance Defense Fund and an allied attorney filed a lawsuit Thursday on behalf of a Pellissippi State Community College student after officials prohibited him from speaking about his faith and handing out free religious literature on campus.
Campus police told Mark Dew that he could not “preach” and distribute literature because sharing one’s faith is prohibited under the Tennessee Board of Regents’ “solicitation” policy enforced at the college, which requires individual students to apply three weeks prior to speaking or dispensing literature and then pay a $30 fee.
“Christian students at public colleges shouldn’t be deterred from sharing their beliefs because of burdensome, unconstitutional policies,” said ADF Legal Counsel Casey Mattox. “First Amendment-protected rights never come with a price tag or waiting period, and college students don’t lose them simply by walking onto campus.”
In October 2010, a PSCC police officer warned Dew that speaking about his faith and handing out religious literature on campus was prohibited under a “no soliciting” rule enforced on campus, even though he wasn’t selling anything. A month later, Dew was later informed by school officials that because he was an individual and not part of a recognized student group, he could not speak about his faith or hand out Christian literature.
Unsure as to whether PSCC was enforcing the same policy for the spring 2011 semester, Dew continued sharing his faith on campus, and a different campus security officer approached him, yelling and forcefully commanding him to cease his activities because of the “no solicitation policy.”
Andrew Fox of Knoxville, lead counsel for Dew and one of more than 2,000 attorneys in the ADF alliance, sent a letter to a school official in February, stating that the policy requiring individual students to submit an application 14 business days in advance before charging a $30 fee--if accepted--is a violation of student rights protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. An attorney for the Tennessee Board of Regents defended the policy, claiming that it was “reasonable and viewpoint neutral.”
In order to share his faith on Wednesday--during the first full week of the 2011 summer semester--Dew applied three weeks in advance and paid the $30 fee. The lawsuit Dew v. Ashford was filed with the U.S. District court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville.
Last month, ADF attorneys challenged similar unconstitutional policies enforced at Maricopa Community Colleges in Arizona and at the State University of New York. Those policies levy fees and waiting periods against visitors desiring to exercise their First Amendment protected free speech rights on campus.