Lieberman v. Marshall

236 So. 2d 120
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedMay 28, 1970
Docket38787
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 236 So. 2d 120 (Lieberman v. Marshall) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lieberman v. Marshall, 236 So. 2d 120 (Fla. 1970).

Opinion

236 So.2d 120 (1970)

Jack LIEBERMAN et al., Appellants,
v.
J. Stanley MARSHALL, As Acting President of the Florida State University, a Part of the University System of the State of Florida, Appellee.

No. 38787.

Supreme Court of Florida.

May 28, 1970.
Rehearing Denied June 26, 1970.

*122 Richard J. Wilson, and Margaret Kathleen Wright, Gainesville, for appellants.

Wilfred C. Varn, of Ervin, Pennington, Varn & Jacobs, Tallahassee, for appellee.

*123 ADKINS, Justice.

This is an interlocutory appeal from an order denying a motion to dissolve a temporary injunction enjoining certain members of a Chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) from holding any meeting or rally in any buildings of the campus of Florida State University, a state supported institution, until further order of Court. The interlocutory appeal was first taken to the First District Court of Appeal, but that Court granted appellee's motion to transfer the cause to this Court because constitutional questions in the area of rights claimed by appellants under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States and Sections Five and Nine of Article I, Declaration of Rights, Florida Constitution, F.S.A., are involved. It was alleged that the purpose of the rally was to sponsor a speaker. By virtue of this allegation, appellants' rights under Section Four, Article I, Declaration of Rights, Florida Constitution, are involved. In view of the fact that a final judgment would be directly appealable to this Court, we accept jurisdiction of the interlocutory appeal. Dade County v. Kelly, 149 So.2d 382 (Fla.App. 1963).

At the outset, certain basic principles should be considered. The powers and responsibilities of The Board of Regents, a university president, or principal of a public school, are awesome and extensive. The administrator has wide discretion in dealing with the requirements of campus order and discipline, and with the time, place, and manner of extracurricular lectures. This Court will not ordinarily review the wisdom with which that discretion is exercised. But this Court will review the exercise of governmental power where there is a tenable claim that it has been exercised in a manner inconsistent with the Constitution. See Brooks v. Auburn University, 296 F. Supp. 188 (M.D. Ala. 1969).

A college education is no longer a luxury for the wealthy, but is regarded as a necessity for most high school graduates. College students today, through the television, radio, and news media, are usually well-informed in national affairs and reliant. Unfortunately, many limit their interests to rights and privileges to the extent of ignoring their duties and responsibilities to our Great American Heritage. Be that as it may, the State cannot condition the granting of a college education, even though a privilege, upon the renunciation of constitutional rights. Dixon v. Alabama State Board of Education, 294 F.2d 150 (5th Cir.1961). See Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503, 89 S.Ct. 733, 21 L.Ed.2d 731 (1969).

The leaders of great universities are frequently required to make agonizing, hard decisions which may well affect the very existence of the university as a free institution. On one side the university president must consider what the Legislature may think; on the other, he must consider what the militant students may think. The long-term interests of the institution require the right decision, regardless of immediate consequences. So it is that the Constitution furnishes a straight, well-defined path for the preservation and continued improvement of our great educational institutions.

Under the United States or Florida Constitution, any college, university, or public school authority may enact rules and regulations denying a campus group access to the institution's buildings, as well as denying an invitation to a guest speaker requested by a campus group, if it reasonably appears that such group or the speaker would, in the course of the use of the building, advocate or attempt:

(1) Violent overthrow of the Government of the United States, the State of Florida, or any political subdivision thereof;
*124 (2) Willful destruction or seizure of the institution's buildings or other property;
(3) Disruption or impairment, by force, of the institution's regularly scheduled classes or other educational functions;
(4) Physical harm, coercion, intimidation or other invasion of lawful rights of the institution's officials, faculty members or students; or
(5) Other campus disorder of violent nature.

Such rules and regulations meet the clear and present danger test, as they suppress only those activities which would result in serious substantive evil which the institution has the right to prevent. See Stacy v. Williams, 306 F. Supp. 963 (N.D.Miss. 1969).

This case arose at the Florida State University in Tallahassee. J. Stanley Marshall, as Acting President of the University, secured an ex parte restraining order March 4, 1969, to prevent the alleged intended occupation that same evening, without permission of the University, of the Florida Room of the University Union. Under regulations of the Board of Regents of the University System of Florida, as well as Regulations of Florida State University, student organizations officially recognized by the Administration of the University may with permission use the university buildings for holding scheduled rallies and sponsoring speakers. The campus chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, SDS, was denied official recognition a few days previously by Acting President Marshall.

The President sought a court order forbidding use of the building for the purpose of holding a nonapproved rally or sponsoring the appearance of a speaker, which rally and speech he alleged were to be held for the sole purpose of causing a confrontation between the administration and SDS, which it was alleged would have resulted in disruption to the University and would have caused irreparable injury. The Circuit Court of Leon County enjoined occupation of campus buildings, but not use of campus grounds.

The injunctive order of the Court was served the evening of March 4, 1969 on defendants by law officers, in the Florida Room, after the occupation and rally already had begun. Although many students left the premises on reading of the Court order, a number refused to obey. Fifty-eight were arrested, and several were ordered by the Court to show cause why they should not be held in contempt.

Subsequently, the defendants moved to dismiss the injunctive complaint for insufficiency, and to dissolve the injunction forbidding use of campus buildings on grounds it violated their constitutional rights. At a hearing April 28, 1969, the trial judge refused both motions, stating his findings that the restraining order had been necessary, because the confrontation planned and staged by SDS would have created a risk of violence and would have unduly disrupted the University campus.

The issues raised and argued by defendants center on two primary questions:

First, was the injunction legally sufficient at the time it was initially issued?

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Harambam Congregation, Inc. v. Simcha Connection, Inc.
84 So. 3d 1113 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2012)
Yardley v. Albu
826 So. 2d 467 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2002)
City of Boca Raton v. Boca Raton Airport Auth.
768 So. 2d 1191 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2000)
H & F Land v. Panama City-Bay Co. Airport
24 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 264 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1999)
United Farm Workers of America v. Quincy
681 So. 2d 773 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1996)
Smith v. Knight
679 So. 2d 359 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1996)
Speer v. Evangelisto
662 So. 2d 1340 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1995)
Airlines Reporting Corp. v. Incentive Internationale Travel, Inc.
566 So. 2d 1377 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1990)
CHICAGO TITLE INS. AGENCY OF LEE CTY., INC. v. Chicago Title Ins. Co.
560 So. 2d 296 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1990)
Malzahn v. Malzahn
541 So. 2d 1359 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1989)
State v. Beeler
530 So. 2d 932 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1988)
Beeler v. State ex rel. Lewis
513 So. 2d 710 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1987)
South Fla. Limo., Inc. v. Broward Cty. Av., Dept.
512 So. 2d 1059 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1987)
Ingaglio v. Ennis
443 So. 2d 459 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1984)
Marston v. Wood
425 So. 2d 582 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1982)
Devoe & Raynolds Co., Inc. v. KDS PAINT CO., INC.
382 So. 2d 126 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1980)
Seminole Park & Fairgrounds, Inc. v. Tropic Bank of Seminole
380 So. 2d 1335 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1980)
Dansig v. Roman
358 So. 2d 860 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1978)
Ago
Florida Attorney General Reports, 1974
Town of Lantana v. Pelczynski
290 So. 2d 566 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1974)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
236 So. 2d 120, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lieberman-v-marshall-fla-1970.