Free Speech Lawsuit Costs Joliet Junior College $30,000

JOLIET, IL - Joliet Junior College student Ivette Salazar and Joliet Junior College agreed on Wednesday to settle Salazar’s First Amendment lawsuit that led to her being detained by campus police for passing out flyers to other students on campus. Salazar’s suit, filed Jan. 11, prompted policy changes that will protect the speech rights of the more than 38,000 JJC students, according to a press statement from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.

According to FIRE, Salazar was detained last November for distributing flyers from the Party for Socialism and Liberation that read “Shut Down Capitalism.”

She was reported by campus staff, detained and interrogated by Joliet Junior College Police, and told she could not distribute her flyers without the college’s permission, the press statement indicates.

The lawsuit against the public college was brought as part of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education’s Million Voices Campaign, which aims to free the voices of one million students by striking down unconstitutional speech codes nationwide.

“Thanks to Ivette, students at Joliet Junior College can peacefully exercise their First Amendment rights without having to fear being interrogated by campus police,” said Marieke Tuthill Beck-Coon, FIRE’s director of litigation. “We hope this case serves as an example to public colleges across the country, and we commend JJC for acting quickly to restore free speech on its campus.”

As part of her lawsuit, Salazar challenged the constitutionality of the school’s “Free Speech Area” policy that restricted expressive activity to one small, indoor area of campus.

JJC’s new policy allows for expressive activity throughout the college, constrained only by new, constitutional time, place, and manner regulations.

As part of the settlement, JJC agreed to pay $30,000 in damages to the FIRE organization, and to provide training to its staff and campus police on the new policies and procedures.

The lawsuit was filed in partnership with FIRE Legal Network member and former president of the First Amendment Lawyers Association Wayne Giampietro of Poltrock & Giampietro in Chicago.

Giampietro served as co-counsel with FIRE attorneys in the case.

“Ivette is an extraordinary young woman who had the fortitude and determination to stand up for her First Amendment rights, as well as the First Amendment rights of all students at Joliet Junior College,” said Giampietro in the press release.

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to defending liberty, freedom of speech, due process, academic freedom, legal equality, and freedom of conscience on America’s college campuses.

Images of Ivette Salazar via FIRE