Comments on Our Constitutional Rights
Today's Daily Cal has some interesting letters, including one from Hiraa Khan, a board member of the Berkeley ACLU (Second one down). She claims that:

Many ASUC-sponsored student groups advertise that in order to gain access to events, students mustn’t carry signs of any sort and have their bags searched upon entry. Such stipulations are a violation of the First and Fourth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and the ASUC constitution’s Bill of Rights.

Signs of reasonable and non-obstructive size are a form of protected speech. Campus groups’ denial of access because of signs is a blatant violation of this right. Banning them essentially creates “free speech-free zones” on campus...

Additionally, many groups search students’ personal belongings before allowing them to enter an event. Such searches are unwarranted and clearly infringe upon our constitutionally-protected right to be free from unreasonable searches.

My understanding of this issue is that there is by no means an absolute right to free speech on campus, but instead free speech exists in places where it has been "created" by the repeated exercise of free spech, such as in Sproul Plaza. I don't think the ACLU would argue that we have the right to carry a sign into a packed lecture hall during class, which could express our opposition to a professor's opinions, but also impede the view of other students. Similiarly, is security a legitimate reason to mandate a search, the way airports search everyone before they fly.

I am hoping the law students who read CalStuff might be able to chime in, and let us know what rights students actually have, and whether the searches and sign confiscations that occur are actually "a violation of the First and Fourth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution." On the point regarding a violation of the ASUC Constitution, I'll see if I can get my hands on said document, and I welcome anyone else's informed opinions on what sections of the ASUC Constitution might be applicable.Email This Post!