Tag Archives: ZZ: Arneson v. Maricopa Community College District

Jonathan Scruggs on the Hugh Hewitt Show | MP3 audio 5:43 mins

KTAR.com: “It was a policy that was really set for a large group, but Ryan was only one individual,” said Arneson’s attorney, Jonathan Scruggs of the Alliance Defense Fund. The case was settled last week and Arneson is looking forward to returning to campus with fewer restrictions . . . “Free speech can’t come with a price tag and a burdensome waiting period,” said Scruggs. “You can’t impose these very burdensome requirements on an individual just wanting to engage in a conversation.”

Jonathan Scruggs on the Victoria Taft Show to discuss this: Maricopa Community Colleges puts price tag on free speech, ends up in court. | MP3 audio 9:08 mins

One News Now: “The provision that we challenged, which included a $50 fee requirement, a requirement to pay insurance and wait 14 days, all of those requirements were changed in the policy because of the lawsuit,” Scruggs reports.

SonoranNews.com: “Free speech can’t come with a price tag and a burdensome waiting period,” said ADF Litigation Staff Counsel Jonathan Scruggs. “Maricopa Community Colleges has done the right thing in changing its policy so that it respects free speech rights protected by the First Amendment. Christians visiting public college campuses shouldn’t be deterred from expressing their beliefs because of cumbersome, unconstitutional policies.”

The New American: ADF attorney Jonathan Scruggs said that while his group is pleased with the outcome of the suit, there is still the issue of the state using the case as a pretext for banning all materials in the Capitol tunnel. “Honoring free speech doesn’t come about by completely eliminating it,” said Scruggs. “Although the commissioners have done the right thing by recognizing that they violated the First Amendment rights of WyWatch members who simply wanted to display signs as others had been allowed to do, we disagree that the solution is to then shut everyone up so that you don’t have to allow pro-life speech anymore.

ADF President and General Counsel Alan E. Sears at the ADF Blog: Even the most casual student of American history can see that the right of free speech is virtually synonymous with what it means to be a citizen in this country. And yet the staff and allied attorneys of the Alliance Defense Fund probably spend more of our time and resources litigating on behalf of this basic constitutionally protected right than on any other one area of the law.

WorldNetDaily: “Free speech can’t come with a price tax and a burdensome waiting period,” Jonathan Scruggs said of the sudden changes made by officials at Maricopa Community College.“Maricopa Community Colleges has done the right thing in changing its policy so that it respects free speech rights protected by the First Amendment,” he said. “Christians visiting public college campuses shouldn’t be deterred from expressing their beliefs because of cumbersome, unconstitutional policies.”

ADF lawsuit sought change to unconstitutional policy that required fees, waiting period to engage in free speech

MP3 audio 1 min.

East Valley Tribune: Education: Arneson contacted the Alliance Defense Fund after hearing about the organization through a friend, Scruggs said.
The Alliance Defense Fund is a “legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family,” according to ADF’s website. It is based out of Scottsdale. “These types of regulations on First Amendment rights are popping up on college campuses more and more often,” Scruggs said. “These places are devoted to the marketplace of ideas.”

ADF President and General Counsel Alan E. Sears at the TellADF Blog: Our Christian brother Ray Arneson finds his mission fields close to home. For two years, for instance, he made regular visits to the campus of South Mountain Community College, in his home town of Mesa, Arizona, to peacefully share the Good News with any students and other passers-by who showed an interest in hearing more about Jesus.

OneNewsNow.com: “The university will allow political speakers to come on campus without having to [jump through] these hoops and go over these burdens. But for our client’s religious speech, he has to get insurance, pay money, [and] do all these difficult things,” Scruggs explains. [more . . . ]

Opposing Views: In a press release, ADF Litigation Staff Counsel Jonathan Scruggs said: “Free speech is protected by the First Amendment, which means it can’t come with a price tag and a burdensome waiting period. The courts have routinely ruled policies like this one unconstitutional. Christians visiting public college campuses shouldn’t be deterred from expressing their beliefs because of cumbersome, unconstitutional policies.”

WorldNetDaily: Free speech is protected by the First Amendment, which means it can’t come with a price tag and a burdensome waiting period,” Jonathan Scruggs, the ADF’s litigation staff counsel, said. “The courts have routinely ruled policies like this one unconstitutional. Christians visiting public college campuses shouldn’t be deterred from expressing their beliefs because of cumbersome, unconstitutional policies.”

KPHO: “Free speech is protected by the First Amendment, which means it can’t come with a price tag and a burdensome waiting period,” said ADF Litigation Staff Counsel Jonathan Scruggs. “Christians visiting public college campuses shouldn’t be deterred from expressing their beliefs because of cumbersome, unconstitutional policies.”

ADF lawsuit says policy requiring fees, waiting period to engage in free speech is unconstitutional