Jackson Free Press

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2013/feb/15/10303/

Thursday, Feb. 14, I attended Jackson State student Corinthian Sanders' city council candidacy announcement on the JSU campus.

Sanders, a 20-year-old Jackson native, received permission to host his announcement from school administrators several days earlier. The fact that a students needs permission to hold such an announcement is a troubling indicator of where our Constitutional rights stand here in the United States. Apparently, the leaders at our institutions of higher learning believe they have the right to grant or deny students their 1st Amendment rights to free speech and free assembly.

Just for review the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution read as follows: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

Now, the 1st Amendment doesn't expressly prohibit university officials from creating policies that abridges the freedom of speech or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, but administrators at public universities are agents of the government. Do these agents have rights to abridge freedoms that even our own Congress doesn't?

I'm not picking on Jackson State here. When I attended Ole Miss, and I assume it is still the case, there were designated "free speech zones" where students could assemble and speak as freely as they pleased. The reasoning for these designations, the university said, was to prevent free speech where it might infringe on the educational process taking place in classrooms around campus.

Again, I must have overlooked the part of the 1st Amendment that states: "unless there's a good reason to abridge such rights, such as public education taking place nearby." Besides, isn't free speech a vital part of the educational process?

Unfortunately for Corinthian Sanders, the questionable treatment of his 1st Amendment rights didn't stop with needing permission.

Sanders had a podium and speakers set up in front of Ayers Hall when I arrived about noon Thursday. Shortly after, he began playing music through the speakers. The music continued for about 30 minutes, after which another City Council candidate, mayoral candidate Chokwe Lumumba and Sander's aunt spoke briefly.

Sanders took the podium about 12:45 for his announcement. Moments after he began to speak to the crowd of 15 to 20 people, three campus police officers stopped him. Campus patrolman Troy Nix, decked out in uniform and Dolce Gabbana sunglasses, pulled Sanders to the side, in the middle of his speech, and asked if he had permission to hold his announcement there.

Not only did Sanders have to get permission to express the most basic of human rights protected by our Constitution, he had to prove that he had that permission to a police officer, because the police officer was apparently unable to confirm the permission himself. Though campus police had more than 40 minutes to check on the status …