Preacher's Failure to Follow Campus Rules Not Sufficient for Trespass

A Schenectady (NY) City Court has acquitted Greg Davis of criminal trespass after Davis was arrested and tried for entering Schenectady County Community College's campus to preach. The court concluded that Davis' failure to follow the campus' rules for speaking on campus and defiance of an administrator's order to leave were not sufficient to support the trespass charge. The Decision and Order can be found here.

The Court determined that under NY Law, the People were required to demonstrate that the particular order to exclude Davis had a legitimate basis and that, considering the nature and use of the subject property, its enforcement did not unlawfully inhibit or circumscribe the defendant from engaging in constitutionally or statutorily protected conduct. After establishing that that the campus was "open to the public," the Court ruled the People had not met their burden:

[t]he Court finds that the People offered insufficient evidence to demonstrate that the . . . order to the defendant to leave the SCCC campus had a legitimate purpose, rationally related to the power to maintain order on the campus, or that its enforcement did not violate an independent right of the defendant.

Therefore, the Court finds this defendant not guilty of the charge of Trespass . . .

The case is People of the State of New York v. Davis, # 06-77707 (Schenectady City Ct. 6/27/07) .

Thanks to ADF for the lead.