YAF Chapter Sues California College Administrators for Free Speech Violations

If you thought Fresno was a safe place for children and other living things, you are wrong.  In Clovis, the community college has to be sued to enforce the First Amendment right of free speech.   At Clovis Community College speech is as free as it is at Havana Community College.

Despite being officially recognized by the school, the CCC YAF chapter has faced an uphill battle to organize on campus––including administrators scheming to remove the chapter’s approved flyers and limiting the distribution of additional YAF materials to an approved “free speech kiosk.”

As you can tell from one of the posters, this is about reminding people about the cost of freedom and the cost of slavery.  Obviously the Administrators at Clovis must have first worked in Havana or Moscow.

YAF Chapter Sues California College Administrators for Free Speech Violations
Young Americans for Freedom,  8/12/22 

Officers of the Young Americans for Freedom chapter at Clovis Community College (CCC) in Fresno, California, filed a federal lawsuit against CCC President Dr. Lori Bennett and other administrators on Thursday after facing targeted ideological discrimination for distributing flyers promoting Young America’s Foundation’s Freedom Week initiative.   Officers of the Young Americans for Freedom chapter at Clovis Community College (CCC) in Fresno, California, filed a federal lawsuit against CCC President Dr. Lori Bennett and other administrators on Thursday after facing targeted ideological
discrimination for distributing flyers promoting Young America’s Foundation’s Freedom Week initiative.        
Despite being officially recognized by the school, the CCC YAF chapter has faced an uphill battle to organize on campus––including administrators scheming to remove the chapter’s approved flyers and limiting the distribution of additional YAF materials to an approved “free speech kiosk.”

Young America’s Foundation, the parent organization of Young Americans for Freedom, is partnering with FIRE to hold Clovis Community College administrators accountable in a court of law. Alejandro Flores, chairman of the Clovis YAF chapter and a plaintiff named in the suit––along with peers Juliette Colunga and Daniel Flores––is determined to hold his school accountable after witnessing firsthand the viewpoint discrimination his chapter faced. “Our goal with this lawsuit is to ensure that everyone has the right to free expression,” Flores said. “When administrators pick and choose what speech is acceptable, you no longer have free speech.

We hope this lawsuit sends a clear message to all tyrannical administrators out there––YAF is on watch.” “Free speech is under attack on campuses across the nation, and the recent, improper action by Clovis Community College administrators is another disappointing example,” stated Young America’s Foundation President Governor Scott Walker. “The school’s leadership violated the First Amendment by stifling and censoring conservative students’ free speech rights. 

Young America’s Foundation is proud to partner with FIRE on this important lawsuit, putting schools nationwide on notice: conservatives will not be bullied into silence and submission.” Read the full complaint here, and visit YAF.org for more updates on this important litigation!