Ryan Dozier emerged from his Wednesday morning class at Yuba College in central California just in time to hoist an evangelical sign and hand out some tracts to the lunchtime crowd walking across campus. Careful to stay off the main walk, he engaged in friendly conversation and shared his materials only with those students who expressed some interest. A campus policeman approached him, though, and told Ryan he’d need a permit from the college to conduct such an “assembly” – and that he could be arrested and expelled, if he didn’t stop immediately. Shortly afterward, a certified letter from college administrators reiterated the threat, advising Ryan that free speech was only allowed at Yuba on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 12 and 1 … with two weeks’ notice in advance.
Before long, Alliance Defending Freedom lawyers had secured a settlement from the college on Ryan’s behalf – abolishing those requirements and dismantling other elements of an unconstitutional speech code that had severely limited free speech and expression on campus.
