6th Circuit: Campus Outside Speaker Rules, Challenged By Evangelist, Are Vague

In McGlone v. Cheek, (6th Cir., Aug. 2, 2013), the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals held that a traveling Christian evangelist would likely succeed in showing that the University of Tennessee's policy requiring outsiders to obtain sponsorship in order to speak on campus is unconstitutionally vague.  Remanding with instructions to issue a preliminary injunction, the court explained:

[T]he University has insisted that, together, policy #1720-1-2 and the Freedom-of-Expression policy establish the University’s sponsorship requirement.  Policy #1720-1-2 makes no reference to on-campus speakers or sponsorship, but it says that guests are allowed on campus... [if] invited by a university student or employee.... The Freedom-of-Expression policy says that “[a]ny person sponsored by a registered campus organization is free to speak” on campus. Inexplicably, the University conflates both policies and concludes that the University’s sponsorship requirement clearly provides that students, faculty, and staff have the authority to grant sponsorship. As a result of the inconsistency between the two policies, it is unclear to the ordinary person who has the authority to grant sponsorship.

AP reports on the decision.  (See prior related posting.)