Stacy v. Williams

312 F. Supp. 742, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12587
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Mississippi
DecidedMarch 9, 1970
DocketNos. WC 6725-K, WC 6837-K
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 312 F. Supp. 742 (Stacy v. Williams) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stacy v. Williams, 312 F. Supp. 742, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12587 (N.D. Miss. 1970).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION ON MOTION FOR TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER

READY, Chief Judge.

This case is a sequel to Stacy v. Williams, 306 F.Supp. 963 (1969), involving the first application of uniform rules and regulations relating to off-campus speakers on college and university campuses in Mississippi. Those rules were adopted on December 1, 1969. On March 6, 1970, Mississippi State University Chapter of the Young Democratic Clubs of Mississippi, intervening plaintiffs, filed their motion for temporary restraining order and other relief against defendant Board of Trustees of Institutions of Higher Learning for the State of Mississippi to enjoin the Board to allow Charles Evers to appear and speak on the campus of Mississippi State University in accordance with invitation extended to him pursuant to approval of the President of the University. Notice having been given defendants, an evidentiary hearing was conducted before a single judge of this court on March 9,1970, with the following results:

FINDINGS OF FACT

Mississippi State University Chapter of the Young Democratic Clubs of Mississippi (MSUYD) is an organization existing on the campus of Mississippi State University, which has been recognized as such by the President of the University.

On February 25, 1970, that organization acting through its president A1 Roughton, submitted in writing a request for approval of an outside speaker in the person of Charles Evers to speak at 7:30 o’clock, p. m., on March 9, 1970, in Dorman Auditorium on campus, with an expected audience of 125 to 150 persons, on the subject: “The Future of the Loyal Democratic Party in Mississippi.” The written request also indicated that Charles Evers presently is mayor of the City of Fayette, Mississippi.

Two days later, on February 27, 1970, Dr. William Giles, University President, acting through his authorized designee, approved this speaker request. The request was given consideration both by the president and by Drs. Martin and Jones, also administrative officers of the Mississippi State University. They considered the fact that on one occasion, the speaker at Alcorn A. & M. in 1966 had participated in certain disruptive actions and demonstrations on the campus of that college. They also considered the fact that since that time, Charles Evers had spoken on other college campuses such as Millsaps College, Mississippi College, University of Mississippi as well as Memphis State University, and that these talks have been unaccompanied by any disruptive or violent consequences on the part of either Evers or the students in attendance. They concluded on the basis of these considerations that the speaker did not present any physical threat to the orderly operation of Mississippi State University.

Dr. Giles’ approval of the speech was rescinded on or about March 4, 1970, because of the Board’s overtures made to him that the speaking would incur the disapproval of the Board of Trustees. In fact, Dr. Thrash,'Executive Secretary of the College Board, had polled the trustees by telephone, and by vote of twelve to one, the trustees were in favor [744]*744of instructing Dr. Giles to rescind the invitation. Thus, Dr. Giles rescinded the approval of the invitation only on the basis of the Board’s direction.

On March 4, 1970, the MSUYD requested of the University President that a review be had before the Campus Review Committee to consider and act upon the President's denial of the speaker request. The Campus Review Committee, consisting of three faculty members selected by the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the State College Board and two students occupying the offices of president and secretary of the Student Body Association, met on March 5, in a session lasting from 3 o’clock, p. m. until 11:30 p. m. At the conclusion of its session, which was a closed meeting, the Campus Review Committee, having been made fully aware of its position by the Board of Trustees and of a letter from Dr. Thrash, voted, by a vote of four to one, to approve the invitation and reverse the President’s decision in denying permission for the speech to be made.

On the day following the action of the Campus Review Committee, namely, on March 6, 1970, the State College Board again notified President Giles that it also overruled the decision by the Campus Review Committee, and ordered that the meeting could not be held.

Immediately upon approval by President Giles of the request, the MSUYD extended an invitation to Mayor Charles Evers and promptly notified Dr. Giles that the invitation had been accepted. Publicity and posters announcing the speech were displayed.

The Board of trustees, following the decision of the three-judge court rendered December 1, 1969, saw fit to adopt the court-promulgated regulations. On this hearing, it was the position of the Board of Trustees, however, that it retained inherent power to pass upon the suitability of the speaker in the event, in the Trustees’ judgment, the college administrators and Campus Review Committee failed to give sufficient. al. tention and proper weight to a particular speaker’s past record for violence or disruptive conduct on other campuses subject to the jurisdiction of the State College Board.

Dr. Thrash testified that the Board intervened in this case because it felt that it was not “a good decision” which had been reached by campus authorities, and that the decision to allow Charles Evers to speak was “not in the best interest of Mississippi State University.”

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

The court is confronted with the uncontradicted fact that the speaker regulations proposed by the three-judge court1 have, by operation of law, become effective because the Board has not seen fit to repeal them as it had the power to do. On the contrary, the Board has expressly adopted such uniform rules and regulations.

In this very sensitive First Amendment area, it is the duty of this court to see whether these rules and regulations, which undertake to limit plaintiffs’ right of free speech, have been complied with.

In the opinion of the three-judge court, and as the rules very clearly indicate, no speech can be suppressed unless it constitutes a clear and present danger to a serious substantive evil that university authorities have a right to guard against; and the prior opinion very clearly holds that university authorities do not have a discretion in this field of selecting those speakers whose views they approve and disapproving those speakers whose views they are not in sympathy with. In such matters, the university authorities may not exercise an editorial judgment over what is deemed good or bad for college students to hear. In short, the university author[745]*745ities may not, consistent with the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, pick and choose in selecting who may or may not speak on college campuses, although it is recognized that there is an area in which free speech can become the practical equivalent of serious disruptive conduct and, therefore, subject to proscription. The three-judge court undertook to suggest to the Board of Trustees that there ought to be formulated an objective method by which there can be winnowed out, so to speak, speech constituting a clear and present danger from all other speech that must be constitutionally allowed. The speaker regulations, therefore, undertook to vest in the head of the particular institution involved, or such person as he might designate, the primary duty and power of making this very sensitive determination.

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

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
312 F. Supp. 742, 1970 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12587, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stacy-v-williams-msnd-1970.