Two college students who were arrested for handing out copies of the constitution are bringing a lawsuit against the college for violating — you guessed it — their constitutional rights.
According to the suit, Kellogg Community College students Michelle Gregoire and Brandon Withers were among a group handing out pocket-sized copies of the United States Constitution on the Battle Creek, Michigan, campus in September 2015 when when school ordered them to stop.
The Detroit News reports that the order was given because the students did not have a permit to distribute the materials. The school’s policy reportedly requires students to ask for permission to engage in “expressive activity” in a single location on campus.
When the students resisted, telling school officials they would continue to exercise their First Amendment rights, they were arrested.
The arrested students belong to the Young Americans for Liberty Chapter of Kellogg Community College, which is represented them in the suit against Kellogg Community College, which argues that the school’s “Speech Zone Policy” violate the students right to free speech. The suit also asserts the school is not consistent in its use of the non Solicitation Policy. The Alliance Defending Freedom, a non-profit legal group that “advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith,” is bringing the lawsuit against the school.
The case will be a test the rights of freedom of speech. The students reportedly spent seven hours in jail before being released on bond.
