May 2, 2008
TUSCALOOSA – Tuscaloosa County District Court Judge Joel Chandler today acquitted four anti-war protestors charged with disorderly conduct for putting on a skit in the Ferguson Center on the University of Alabama campus on February 29.
The skit, aimed at bringing attention to the plight of Iraqi civilians caught up in the war, lasted less than two minutes and ended with audience applause. No one was harmed. Witnesses say that the skit was obviously street theater and that no one seemed panicked or concerned for their personal safety during the performance. Following the event, Tim Hebson, Dean of Students, released a statement saying “no one was in danger at any time.”
After the skit, four of the participants – two University of Alabama students, an Iraq war veteran and a student from the University of North Carolina – were detained by campus police and questioned for approximately four hours. They were subsequently led away in handcuffs and taken to the Tuscaloosa County Jail where they were charged. The two University of Alabama students also face charges by the University that they violated the Code of Student Conduct.
“We cannot allow the disorderly conduct statute to be read so broadly as to make it a crime to engage in free speech. This is especially true at a time when freedom of expression is so critical to our democracy,” stated Allison Neal, Staff Attorney for the ACLU of Alabama.
The ACLU-AL and the Alabama Chapter of National Lawyers Guild (NLG) represented the protestors and will continue to represent the Alabama students in their University judicial proceedings. The students contend that a number of the provisions in the code of conduct are vague and subjective, and therefore could punish speech that is protected by the First Amendment. For example, the students were charged with “disruption or obstruction of teaching, research, administration, disciplinary proceedings, or other University activities, including its public-service functions, whether on or off-campus, and other authorized non-University activities which occur on University premises.” The potential sanctions faced by the students range from a written warning to permanent expulsion.
“There are very important First Amendment principles at stake,” said staff attorney Allison Neal. “Not only were these students’ free speech rights under attack, but such actions by a university can have a chilling effect on all students’ right to free speech.”
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