Freedom of Speech

PC students walking on campus

Our Commitment to Freedom of Speech

Porterville College is committed to upholding every individual's constitutionally protected rights to free expression, speech, and assembly. The time, place, and manner in which these rights may be exercised are governed by Porterville College policies and procedures (BP/AP 3900).

First Amendment Protections

What's Protected The First Amendment to the US Constitution protects speech and expressive conduct from censorship by the government based upon its content.

There are very limited exceptions to this protection. Porterville College is a part of the government and may not censor speech based on its content.

What's Not Protected Unprotected speech generally falls into five categories:

  1. Defamation – false statements of fact about someone that tend to injure them or their reputation. Defamation is known as “libel” if written or “slander” if spoken. Persons who defame others can be sued for damages.
  2. Fighting Words – words by which their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of peace. They are personally abusive words, which, when addressed to the ordinary person, are, as a matter of common knowledge, inherently likely to provoke violent reaction.
  3. Incitement to Violence – words that are intentionally directed by the speaker to provoke a crowd to immediately carry out violence and unlawful action and are likely to produce that action. Examples include challenging another to fight in a public space, use of offensive words in a public place which are inherently likely to provoke an immediate violent reaction, inciting illegal violent activity, or calling a crowd to immediately burn down a building or vandalize property.
  4. True Threats – statements where the speaker intends to communicate a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group of individuals. The speaker need not actually intend to carry out the threat. A prohibition on true threats protects people from the fear of violence and from the disruption that fear engenders. The threat must be, on its face and under the circumstances in which it is made, so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate, and specific as to cause the person threatened to reasonably fear for their own safety or the safety of their immediate family.
  5. Obscenity – a legal standard that is difficult to meet and is rarely a basis to censor speech.

The following conduct is generally not free speech and may be disciplined or halted:

  • Willful disturbance of any lawful meeting (must substantially impair the meeting by intentional conduct in violation of implicit or explicit rules for the meeting that the violator knew or should have known)
  • Fighting
  • Obstruction of a police officer in the lawful exercise of their duties
  • Unlawful assembly and refusal to disperse
  • Vandalism and defacing someone else’s property
  • Disturbance by loud and unreasonable noise
  • Trespassing
  • Theft

Students, employees, and members of the public shall be free to exercise their rights of free expression, subject to the requirements of this policy.

The Colleges of the District are non-public forums, except for those areas that are designated public forums available for the exercise of expression by students, employees, and members of the public. The Chancellor or designee shall enact such administrative procedures as are necessary to reasonably regulate the time, place, and manner of the exercise of free expression in the designated public forums.

The administrative procedures promulgated by the Chancellor or designee shall not prohibit the right of students to exercise free expression, including but not limited to the use of bulletin boards, the distribution of printed materials or petitions and the wearing of buttons, badges, or other insignia.

Speech shall be prohibited that is defamatory, obscene according to current legal standards, or which so incites others as to create a clear and present danger of the commission of unlawful acts on District property or the violation of District policies or procedures, or the substantial disruption of the orderly operation of the District.

Nothing in this policy shall prohibit the regulation of hate violence directed at students in a manner that denies their full participation in the educational process (Education Code Section 66301 subdivision (e)), so long as the regulation conforms to the requirements of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, and of Section 2 of Article 1 of the California Constitution. Students may be disciplined for harassment, threats, or intimidation unless such speech is constitutionally protected; members of the public may be asked to leave the campus pursuant to current law.

(See AP 3900)

The students and employees of the District and members of the public shall be permitted to exercise their rights of free expression subject to the time, place, and manner policies and procedures contained in Board Policy 3900 Speech: Time, Place, and Manner and this procedure.

The Colleges of the District designate the following areas as reserved for expressive activities which do not violate District policy and which are lawful: those areas generally available to students and the community, defined as grassy areas, walkways, and other similar common areas. These areas are chosen so as to provide visibility and allow communication to a large number of students, administrators, faculty, and others walking or traveling on campus but also so as not to disrupt educational and other activities of the District on behalf of students.

  • These areas are designated public forums. The District reserves the right to revoke that designation and apply a non-public forum designation.
  • The District reserves the right to designate areas as non-public forums as necessary to prevent the substantial disruption of the orderly operation of the college. Areas of the college that are non-public forums specifically include campus offices, classrooms, warehouses, maintenance yards, athletic fields in use or scheduled for use, or locker rooms, and any other area not specified above.

The use of these areas reserved and open for expressive activities is subject to the following:

  • No person using the areas shall touch, strike, or physically impede the progress of passersby, except for incidental or accidental contact or contact initiated by a passerby.
  • Persons using areas shall not use any means of amplification that creates a noise or diversion that disturbs the orderly conduct of the campus or classes taking place at that time.
  • Persons using the areas reserved for expressive activities shall not disrupt the orderly operation of the college.

Non-student, community groups wishing to engage in speech or expressive activities on campus, in the areas designated as public forums, must check in with the College Administrative Office three business days prior to engaging in the activities. This does not involve an advance approval process. No illegal activities will be permitted, no activities that violate District or campus rules, including rules and laws on illegal harassment and discrimination, and none that will substantially interfere with or disrupt activities already scheduled for that day and time in the designated areas. In the event the area sought to be used for expressive activities has already been reserved for another activity so that there will be substantial interference or disruption based on noise, overcrowding, or other considerations unrelated to content, the District will offer alternative available areas or, if none are available, offer alternative dates. Students, outside organizations, and others are encouraged to make reservations in advance to use the areas for their expressive activities through the use of optional reservation forms.

All persons using the areas that are designated public forums shall be allowed to distribute petitions, circulars, leaflets, newspapers, and other printed matter. Such distribution shall take place only within those areas. Those persons distributing printed material must, prior to their departure from the areas that day, make reasonable efforts to retrieve, remove or properly discard material that is discarded or dropped in or around the areas other than in an appropriate receptacle.

Hours of Access

The hours of operation of the District are 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Expressive activities are not permitted outside the District’s hours of operation. Overnight use or sleeping on campus is not permitted, nor is use of the campus areas for sleeping, camping, or laying down of bedding. Nor is use of facilities for similar purposes permitted during hours of operation.

Posting

Bulletin boards shall be provided for use in posting materials at campus locations convenient for use by students, staff, and members of the public. All materials displayed on a bulletin board shall clearly indicate the author or agency responsible for its production. The District may remove materials displayed after the passage of ten days.