Don’t be fooled by the grouchy Orange Feather Duster in the White House: resistance to white supremacy is alive and well across the nation, and Cincinnati, Ohio, is no exception. Today, the home of the University of Cincinnati just became the latest campus to reject Richard Spencer.
Though legally unable to reject his appearance request in October, the board of trustees openly condemned his message. Last month, in anticipation of increased crowds that would come with hosting Richard Spencer in March, the University of Cincinnati proposed an $11,333 security and rental fee as part of the booking arrangement.
In a Jan. 4 letter to (Spencer attorney Kyle) Bristow, UC General Counsel Lori Ross said the school had begun "preliminary preparations" for a March 14 appearance, but that much remained to be done. She told Bristow that the school needed to have a signed rental agreement, insurance certificate and total $11,333 payment for rental and security by Jan. 12.
Bristow responded with the Jan. 9 federal lawsuit seeking a "reasonable fee."
Spencer’s lawsuit claims the fee is “discriminatory and unconstitutional,” but considering the circus that follows Spencer, those actually totally sound like friend prices.
The school said it was asking for "a mere fraction" of anticipated costs. Authorities estimated security costs at $600,000 for Spencer's Oct. 19 appearance at the University of Florida.
There’s a reason Spencer has targeted state universities, Dr. Clay Calvert, a professor and First Amendment expert at the University of Florida, told HuffPost.
“Private universities could exclude Spencer without First Amendment issues,” he said. But because state universities are government institutions, the “First Amendment is triggered.”
Spencer’s offensive rhetoric has led to violent clashes between his white nationalist supporters and counter-protesters. When he holds an event at a university, a large police presence is required.
But who has to pay for it?
… according to the Supreme Court, it’s up to the university to pay for it. Deciding on a case in 1992, Justice Harry Blackmun laid out the legal doctrine known as the “heckler’s veto.”
Speech, Blackmun wrote, “cannot be financially burdened, any more than it can be punished or banned, simply because it might offend a hostile mob.” In other words, speech can’t be prohibited because of financial issues. In Spencer’s case, that means the University of Florida is stuck with the $500,000 in security costs.
The security for Spencer’s visit to UF cost as much as a year of tuition for 78 undergraduate students, by the way. Mind-blowing.
College and university administrators across the nation have been scrambling to adjust to 2017’s surge in alt-right events like the one that isn’t happening. One need only think of Heather Heyer to recognize that not having a police presence is no longer an option at these events.
However, even as Spencer and his ilk exploit loopholes to get on campuses (and litigate, when all else fails), colleges have found a loophole of their own:
… some colleges’ guidelines on outside speakers may not be designed for the likes of Richard Spencer. Such open-door policies haven’t proven problematic in recent years, but they are vulnerable now.
Certain policies restricting speech can pass legal muster if they’re content neutral -- such as one that requires speakers be invited by either a student group or faculty member. Texas A&M University imposed such a policy after Spencer’s visit to the campus last year.
But is that censorship? Or is it feeding the trolls?
Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, said universities shouldn’t be looking for ways to block white supremacists from speaking on campus in the first place. That’s what they want, he said.
Spencer “wants to wrap himself in the First Amendment,” Cohen told HuffPost. “If he had his druthers, the university would deny him and he would go to the court and win, and he could claim to be a First Amendment hero.”
It remains to be seen if UC will emerge triumphant from the lawsuit, or if they’ll be forced to host the vest-wearing Nazi, and pay for it. In the meantime, rest assured that Spencer, Bristow and his merry band of misfit monsters continue to sue their way onto campuses.
Ohio, in particular, seems to be a favored target. In addition to UC, Spencer is already in litigation with Ohio State. Bristow is also currently threatening to sue Kent State (so far, just with a cheesy “bend the knee” GOT joke) for refusing an absolutely tasteless request to speak on the May 4 anniversary of the National Guard killing of four anti-war activists in 1970.