At the time, the student club that organized the protest (the Muslim Student Union) was suspended, I believe, for one academic year.
Now the DA is planning to prosecute the 'eleven'.
The DA wrote:
....called the students' actions "an organized effort, days prior to the event, to shut down the speech." As a result, Schroeder said, the students deprived the speaker and the audience of their first amendment rights, "and that's against the law." As examples of what the students could have done to protest the speech without breaking the law, Schroeder suggested they could have handed out leaflets, worn t-shirts or asked hostile questions during a Q & A section.
Schroeder also pointed out that the UC Irvine police made the arrests the night of Oren's speech, and brought the case to the DA's office. As a result, the office had a duty to evaluate whether the law was broken. "We just want people to accept responsibility for what they did," she said.
Schroeder also pointed out that the UC Irvine police made the arrests the night of Oren's speech, and brought the case to the DA's office. As a result, the office had a duty to evaluate whether the law was broken. "We just want people to accept responsibility for what they did," she said.
At the moment the institutions faculty is petitioning the prosecution.
So, what do you think?
Did the students break the law sufficiently to warrant prosecution?
I'm of the mind that the police should adhere to past practice. If there is record of them prosecuting misdemeanor crimes committed by students of this campus in the past then this one should be too. However, if there is record of them NOT prosecuting misdemeanor crimes then they should treat this case similarly. Oftentimes, students are given a wave by local law enforcement for minor offences as typically campuses have their own security and their own punitive system (to some extent).
Edit - an article
Edited, Mar 10th 2011 2:53pm by Elinda