A law student whose anti-violence posters featuring Charlie Kirk were removed from campus will be permitted to restore them — and won’t face discipline — in what his attorneys cheered as a defeat for viewpoint discrimination.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression said Justin Booker, a student at Campbell Law School in Raleigh, North Carolina, can rehang the flyers that he displayed on campus hallways, doors and columns the day after Kirk’s Sept. 10 assassination.
The posters show a photo of Kirk; his wife, Erika; and their two young children with the caption, “End Political Violence.”
“This is great news, not only for Justin and his anti-political violence message, but for the expressive rights of all Campbell students,” said Dominic Coletti, the foundation’s program officer, in a Tuesday statement. “Campbell took a more-speech approach and signaled that it won’t remove flyers because of their content going forward.”
He said Campbell confirmed that Mr. Booker will not be disciplined and will be permitted to display his posters.
Mr. Booker was told he violated school policy by affixing his posters to surfaces other than designated bulletin boards, even though he placed them amid clusters of other campus flyers that were not removed, as shown in photos taken by Mr. Booker.
The foundation accused Campbell in a March 3 letter of running afoul of its free-speech policy with its “viewpoint-discriminatory flyer removal.”
Gina Calabro, Campbell University general counsel, said in her March 17 response that Mr. Booker posted an “excessive number of flyers,” or about 40, taping them onto stairwell and classroom doors, thus creating a “substantial risk of disruption to classes and meetings.”
“The removal was therefore based on content-neutral time, place, and manner concerns related to maintaining an orderly educational environment,” she said in her letter.
Mr. Booker filed a complaint with the Community and Student Life Committee, which has since apologized for failing to return the flyers to him, Ms. Calabro said.
The committee also “acknowledged that additional spaces for student and student organizations in the law school to post material should be considered. Additional bulletin boards are being added to existing available space,” she said.
Campbell Law School, also known as the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, is “one of the smallest [American Bar Association]-accredited private law schools in the country,” with about 420 students, according to the Law School Admission Council.
The law school is part of Campbell University, a private Christian institution affiliated with the Baptist State Convention in North Carolina.
