ACLU talks to students about their campus rights
Two attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union taught students about free speech on campus at “Know Your Rights,” a forum hosted by Students for Justice in Palestine and Mecha de USC on Wednesday.
The event, part of Palestine Awareness Week, hosted ACLU attorneys Yaman Salahi and Brendan Hamme at the United University Church. The two pinpointed issues regarding informants and instructed students on their free speech rights before fielding questions from attendees.
The speakers firmly asserted that students have the ability to take advantage of broader free speech rights at USC. Hamme explained and referenced Leonard’s Law, which includes provisions regarding the preservation of free speech on private school campuses and declaratory relief, which allows the court to declare a university policy unconstitutional. Leonard’s Law is only applicable in California.
“If we lied in any other state, this would be an extremely short conversation,” Hamme joked.
The information the speakers gave about free speech on private university campuses was useful to USC students who have had issues with the administration.
Nesma Tawil, president of SJP, said she has run into difficulties when trying to organize events and activities for her organization.
“We get questioned by the administration all the time. We have to go through meetings all the time before every event that we do, and they ask us a lot of questions that I’m sure they don’t do with other organizations,” Tawil said.
Salahi also said people who are contacted by authorities at their homes are not required to answer their questions.
“All you have to do is take their card and say ‘thank you, I’ll have my attorney contact you,’” Salahi said. “Most of the time, it’s because of religious or ethnic background, not because [someone is] suspected of criminal activity.”
Salahi explained that while immigrants might be inclined to invite such officials into their homes in order to prove their innocence, such actions could lead to later complications and uncomfortable situations. He advised students to instead always seek legal counsel, which the ACLU provides for free.
And speaking on a subject close to home for many students, SJP member Dina Sharif stressed the importance of the equitable free speech grounds at private institutions such as USC.
“Students at USC — particularly because it’s a private university — don’t realize what the Leonard Law is or how connected we are in terms of law and policy to public institutions,” Sharif said.
Tawil also noted that though other events of the week might spread awareness to those not involved in organizations dedicated to the Middle East conflict, the panel offered a different type of awareness to active members by providing practical legal information.
“I find there [are] a lot of students who are unknowledgeable of their rights. Because we’re students at a private university, they think we don’t have as [many] rights as UCLA or other UCs,” Tawil said. “We want to build confidence in these students to express their views in an academic environment, which should be the most comfortable place for freedom of speech.”