Economist Arthur Laffer is widely regarded as the father of supply-side economics and is hated by the left for that reason. In 2019, Laffer was invited to speak on the campus of Binghamton University and what happened, as it often did at the time, was a bit of student organized cancel culture. Here’s a sample but I’ll post the full video below.
I’m disgusted by the chaos we’ve witnessed erupt across the @binghamtonu campus over the past several days. Our college campuses should be places where ideas and peaceful discourse can be shared freely by all individuals, no matter their differing politics or opinions. pic.twitter.com/75QENYMlRv
— Fred Akshar (@fredakshar) November 19, 2019
In 2020, the Young Americans Foundation and the College Republican sued and the lawsuit has been dragging along for six years. Now the case is finally going to trial.
After years of preliminary motions, the remaining defendant is John Pelletier, who served as the campus chief of police at the time. Attorneys for Alliance Defending Freedom allege Pelletier chose to appease activists and shut down Laffer’s speech rather than defend the conservative students’ First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
The law firm seeks to recoup the roughly $35,000 it cost to host the event along with attorneys fees and punitive damages, said ADF attorney Tyson Langhofer in an interview Wednesday with The College Fix.
He said Binghamton University has policies on the books that are supposed to protect students’ free speech rights, but argues those rules were actively ignored in this case. He said the legal battle is important because a favorable decision may help sway campus officials nationwide to actually enforce their campus free speech policies.
“If we have government officials who are unwilling to protect people’s rights … those rights are worthless,” Langhofer said. “Policies mean nothing unless we have government officials who are willing to enforce the law on an equal basis, that’s what the Equal Protection Clause was enacted for.”
According to documents filed in the case, Campus Police Chief Pelletier allegedly asked Laffer to cancel his speech before he even made it to campus.
On the morning of the Laffer Event, the University’s Senior Director of Media and Public Relations forwarded to UPD, Rose, and other members of the University an email from the College Progressives and an online post ostensibly written on behalf of the College Progressives, PLOT, and other groups, saying that they “will be taking away . . . the College Republicans’ space by disrupting their event.” On the afternoon of the Laffer Event, UPD saw a social media post by PLOT promoting the disruption of the Laffer Event.
Pelletier decided to personally meet Dr. Laffer at the airport when he arrived on November 18, 2019, to inform him that his lecture may be protested. In his deposition for this action, Dr. Laffer stated that Pelletier told him the University “did not want [him] to come,” asked him to cancel the event, and “intimated” that he should return to his plane.
Laffer refused to back down and showed up for the even which was disrupted almost immediately after it began.
Over a minute into the disruption, UPD officers began to slowly approach the disrupter. As they were approaching, approximately ten to fifteen audience members surrounded the disrupter, forming a human barrier to prevent the officers from reaching him. Gallagher asked Dr. Laffer how he was doing, to which Dr. Laffer replied something to the effect of, “Let’s give it ten minutes.” While UPD officers were pushing toward the crowd, Pelletier walked over to Gallagher and exchanged some words. UPD officers removed one protester from the lecture hall. As the disrupter with the megaphone was being removed, Gallagher touched Dr. Laffer’s back, said something to him, and then said something to Restuccia. Restuccia nodded, made a hand-waving motion, and then Dr. Laffer, Gallagher, and members of the College Republicans left the lecture hall.
According to Plaintiffs, UPD officers directed Dr. Laffer to leave. According to Defendants, Restuccia suggested that they leave, but Dr. Laffer was free to remain at the event.
So that’s the core of the case. Was Laffer told by university police to leave or was it “suggested” that he should leave. Either way, what’s clear is that the police didn’t make much of an effort to defend Laffer’s right to speak. It looks like they decided it was easier to just push him to leave.
Here’s the full video showing what happened from the moment the event began and 45 minutes after that. What I see is a mob of bullies using their numbers to silence the speech of someone they don’t like. This is the heckler’s veto in action.
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