The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

ACLU steps in

The charges brought against graduating senior Marc Torney by Student Judicial Affairs for possible Conduct Code violations as the result of his participation in a political demonstration outside the Student Center raise questions once again about freedom of speech on campus and about how the University's policy on demonstrations is implemented. According to the police report that initiated these charges, Torney merely asked on what grounds he was being requested by police to produce an ID and "talked in circles" with them so that they were delayed in requesting that demonstrators move to the Free Forum Area.

Yet he is accused by SJA of disobedience and disorderly conduct. There is an additional accusation of providing a "false ID and local address" that is nowhere supported in the police report. That Torney would question why he was being asked to produce an ID is perfectly reasonable. He was exercising a right the University should be loath to interfere with. The policy by which it does so ("Demonstrations: Regulations and Procedures") is little known and, indeed, cannot be discovered on the University's website by search engines.

If we put to one side the wisdom and constitutionality of this obscure policy, should University police wish to implement it, they would be well advised to have copies of it with them and to use its approved format for indicating to "unauthorized" protestors what provisions they are violating. (See Section III: "I am____________ (Name), ___________(Position), representing the chancellor of this university. You are_______________ (specific complaint), which is conduct prohibited by university regulations governing demonstrations and/or state laws. You are hereby advised to cease such behavior and to __________. You have ____ minutes to comply with these instructions. Those who fail to comply with these instructions will be subject to arrest and penalties provided by law and university regulations.") Whether students should need authorization from the chancellor's office to exercise their First Amendment rights is a question the University community may want to discuss when we return in the fall. In the meantime, SJA should drop its charges against Torney since they are not warranted by the police report on his behavior and because failing to do so would suggest the Conduct Code is being used to stifle student political expression on campus. At this moment, our administration should be working with the opposite goal in mind: to nurture civic engagement and the exercise of Constitutional rights. To this end, let Torney go!

Mark A. Schneider, president

Southern Illinois Chapter

American Civil Liberties Union

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