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University of Idaho Pays $90K to Three Christians and Professor Who Were
Issued ‘No Contact’ Orders
Posted by Bruce Hausknecht | Dec 9, 2022 | Free Speech

University of Idaho Pays $90K to Three Christians and Professor Who Were
Issued ‘No Contact’ Orders
The University of Idaho – a public school – is paying dearly for a First
Amendment lesson it should already have known: you can’t punish speech
you don’t like.

Last April, three Christian students of the university’s law school who
are members of the law school’s chapter of the Christian Legal Society,
along with a faculty member who served as an advisor to the club, sued
the school’s administration. The lawsuit stemmed from orders issued by
the university to the three students and professor directing them to
have “no contact” with a female, lesbian-identified student who was
upset by the response she received when she asked the students why CLS
required its officers to affirm that marriage is between one man and one
woman.

Even though the students and professor weren’t looking to confront the
female student or initiate any contact whatsoever, the gag order was a
bridge too far to merely let it pass. Issued under the university’s
“sexual harassment” policy, the “no contact” orders could have
permanently and negatively impacted the lives of the students and their
faculty advisor.

In July, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking the
university’s “no contact” orders as a violation of the free speech
guarantee of the First Amendment.

The university then settled with the plaintiffs by rescinding the “no
contact” orders and paying them $90,000 in damages for violating their
constitutional rights. The lawsuit was then dismissed.

The student plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Peter Perlot, Mark Miller and
Ryan Alexander. The faculty plaintiff is Professor Richard Seamon. All
four are represented by attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF),
who celebrated the victory in a press release.

“Today’s university students will be tomorrow’s leaders, judges, and
school administrators, so it’s imperative that university officials
model the First Amendment freedoms they are supposed to be teaching
their students,” said ADF Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer, director of
the ADF Center for Academic Freedom. “We’re pleased to settle this case
favorably on behalf of Peter, Mark, Ryan, and Professor Seamon, and we
hope that it will encourage all public universities across the country
to support the constitutionally protected freedom of students and
professors to share their deeply held beliefs on campus.”

The Christian Legal Society also commented on the successful resolution
in the same press statement.

“If we are to repair the current culture of political polarization,
conversations among persons with differing viewpoints are essential,”
Christian Legal Society attorney Laura Nammo said. “University
officials’ censorship of such conversations needlessly exacerbates
polarization and harms all students’ ability to learn from one another.”

Ironically, the conversation that offended the lesbian student was
initiated by her. It also occurred during a university-wide “moment of
community” in which CLS members joined other university organizations to
condemn an anti-LGBT slur left on a whiteboard at the Boise campus by
someone unknown.

There’s a disheartening trend occurring on college campuses across the
U.S. to elevate “being offended” above the value of free speech. In
fact, a recent survey of college students revealed that 48% of them
believe that “some speech can be so offensive that it merits harsh
punishment like the death penalty.” Only 38% disagreed, and 15% were unsure.

The death penalty for speech? What country is this? If the college
students of today are the future leaders of our country, what does that
survey result bode for our constitutional freedoms in coming years?

Thank God for our judicial system – and public interest law firms like
ADF – that came to the rescue of these students’ First Amendment rights
in this situation. And Idaho’s situation is not the first to pit the
free speech rights of Christian students against “offended” students,
faculty and a woke school administration.

It’s imperative that we begin teaching our children and young adults
about the country’s foundational values – like free speech and the
freedom of religion – that have made us the greatest country in the world.

And, while we’re at it, the administrators of our nation’s public
colleges and universities could also use a refresher course as well.

The case is Perlot v. Green.

Photo from Shutterstock.

On Mon, 24 Jul 2023 16:44:46 -0700, a425couple <a425couple@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>The university then settled with the plaintiffs by rescinding the “no
>contact” orders and paying them $90,000 in damages for violating their
>constitutional rights. The lawsuit was then dismissed.

All that money went to their greedy attorney.