Eighth Circuit Now Considering Christian's Suit Against Univ. of Arkansas
by Jim Brown
January 21, 2005
(AgapePress) - The University of Arkansas is being challenged in court over its speech restrictions on an outside Christian speaker. The case involves a man who has shared his faith on the campus since 1998.In October 2003, Gary Bowman sued the school for requiring that he obtain a permit every time he wishes to hand out gospel tracts or hold up a sign on campus. Bowman had been told he could share his faith on campus no more than five times a semester, 15 days out of the year -- and that the school must have notice of his visits three days before they occur. Oral arguments have been heard, and the case is now pending before a three-judge panel of the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis.
Bowan's attorney, Nathan Kellum with the Alliance Defense Fund, says the university has egregiously violated his client's free-speech rights.
"He has to share whatever message he wants to share in five opportunities -- because after a fifth visit in a given semester, he's kept off; he is not allowed to speak anymore," Kellum explains. "Regardless whether there's a conflict of usage of the space that he wants to use, and really regardless of how long he wants to speak or what he wants to do, he is not given an opportunity to speak a sixth time."
The attorney explains that Bowman, because of a fear of being arrested, has been forced to stop speaking at the school. "That's not the sort of thing that should happen on a public university campus in America," he says.
According to Kellum, the university's restriction on outside speakers is unconstitutional. "I think what they ignore is a fundamental constitutional premise," he says, "and that is where a citizen has a legal right to be, that citizen should also have the legal right to speak. This is not a closed-off enclave; it is a public university that flows into the town and city of Fayetteville."
ADF believes that although the University of Arkansas has always required Bowman obtain a permit, it implemented the more restrictive policy primarily to "curb the frequency" of the Christian's speech. Under that policy, the legal group says, Bowman's freedom to speak on campus has been limited to 15 days a year -- "and then only if the university says he may."
The Eighth Circuit's ruling in Gary Bowman v. Dr. John A. White, et al. is expected in the next few months.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
