Lawsuit over student fees at Wayne State

[Douglas Laycock]

Southworth v. Board of Regents requires viewpoint neutrality in these programs.  Given that, any University that lets students distribute these funds on an ad hoc basis is hanging a big "Sue Me" sign on its back. 

Quoting Ed Brayton <stcynic at gmail.com>:

> A very interesting lawsuit has been filed by Students for Life, a recognized
> student group, against Wayne State University over the denial of student
> activity funds for a weeklong event the group wanted to put on. The obvious
> precedent is Rosenberger, but I don't know if the facts fit perfectly here
> (as, of course, they rarely do). Wayne State seems to have a slightly
> unusual system for allocating those funds. Rather than giving the same
> amount of funding to all recognized student groups, they have a system that
> allows each group to request specific funding for a specific purpose - for
> on campus events, travel to off campus conferences, for bringing a speaker
> to campus, and so forth. But the by-laws forbid the use of funds for
> "political advocacy" or to "advance religion."
>
>
>
> So under Rosenberger, are those two restrictions facially unconstitutional?
> Or does the fact that it bans all political or religious advocacy across the
> board without regard to the specific viewpoint change that conclusion?
> Obviously, the case may well turn on a number of factual issues. First, the
> request was for $4000, which is a large amount of money for such requests.
> Second, has the Student Council approved other funds for events by other
> groups that might be considered political advocacy? The complaint says that
> the council has funded activities by pro-choice groups, but it contains no
> specifics. This could be a very interesting case.
>
>
>
> Ed Brayton
>
>

Douglas Laycock
Yale Kamisar Collegiate Professor of Law
University of Michigan Law School
625 S. State St.
Ann Arbor, MI  48109-1215
  734-647-9713
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