YAF Scores Victory Against Berkeley In Free Speech Lawsuit, Case To Proceed

A federal judge in San Francisco ruled to allow Young America’s Foundation’s First Amendment lawsuit against the school to move forward, giving students their day in court to hold Berkeley accountable for violating their rights and suppressing conservative speech. UC Berkeley has used its infamous unwritten and unpublished High Profile Speaker Policy to repeatedly suppress conservative speech on campus. In Wednesday’s ruling, the court found sufficient factual allegations for YAF’s First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment claims to move forward to trial. At trial, Berkeley will also have to answer for its unconstitutional application of the Major Events policy surrounding Young America’s Foundation’s breakthrough lecture with Ben Shapiro that took place last September. The court found YAF’s arguments persuasive, regarding Berkeley’s use of security fees to suppress conservative speech. “Young America’s Foundation looks forward to moving on to the merits of this case and vigorously defending our claims at trial,” said Young America’s Foundation spokesman Spencer Brown. “This ruling allowing YAF’s critical First Amendment case to move forward is a win for conservatives and free speech, and it shows that Judge Chesney believes there is significant evidence of Berkeley’s work to suppress conservative speech. Conservative students will finally have their day in court, and we are confident that the outcome of this case will be the restoration of students’ First Amendment rights at the University of California, Berkeley.”

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For further information or to request an interview contact Spencer Brown via [email protected] or 800-872-1776.