UC BERKELEY’S REACTION TO STUDENTS FOR JUSTICE IN PALESTINE PROTEST HAS HAD A CHILLING EFFECT ON FREE SPEECH – SAYS ACLU IN OPEN LETTER TO THE CHANCELLOR


For Immediate Release: May 7, 2002

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- Citing the “chilling effects on freedom of speech and association on the UC Berkeley campus” the Berkeley Campus American Civil Liberties Union (Berkeley ACLU) and the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (ACLUNC) today sent a letter to the UC Berkeley Chancellor expressing serious concerns about the University’s reaction to the campus sit-in after a rally organized by the Students for Justice in Palestine.  The University is threatening to suspend for an entire year the 41 students who were arrested for trespass.  We are encouraged that the University has rescinded the interim suspension of the student group Students for Justice in Palestine.  However, the ACLU questions the fairness and legality of the University’s actions against the 41 students that treats the pro-Palestinian protestors more harshly than similar protests in the past.

“The University’s reaction to the April 9th sit-in has a chilling effect on the student’s right to free speech, especially at a time when freedom of expression is so critical to our democracy,” said Alan Schlosser, Legal Director of the ACLU-NC. “Expressing ideas that are controversial and unpopular must be vigilantly protected.  The important First Amendment principles at stake do not permit administrative action that appears to be unprecedented and to make an example of this controversial group.”  

The letter to the UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert M. Berdahl reads:  “When the University does not treat the current situation the same way it has treated other similar situations in the past, students, faculty, and community members begin to legitimately question the impartiality and fairness of the University, and this threatens their right to participate in open dialogue on campus without fear of unfair reprisal.” 

“The University has overstepped its bounds, "said Dan Komarek, External Vice President of the Berkeley Campus ACLU.  "Its actions threaten the tradition of free speech that this campus is so famous for.”