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YAL Notches 100th Free Speech Victory, This Time in Idaho

Today, Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) is proud to officially announce its 100th free speech-related victory on a college campus, this time at Boise State University in Idaho.

Until recently, Boise State’s Student Organizations Handbook included “distribution” in its definition of “solicitation,” subjecting students’ political literature to the same speech-zone and permit policies as people selling products or pitching credit cards. This stifled students’ First Amendment rights on campus, where free speech should be guaranteed.

Over the past three years, YAL partnered with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) to change the Boise State policy, and the policy was indeed changed earlier this month. All references to “solicitation” now include commercial clarification, spelling a major free speech victory for students at Boise State.

Below is a statement from Ryan Claassen, YAL’s Idaho State chair and chapter president at Boise State:

As the chapter president of Boise State University, I am happy to no longer live in fear of censoring myself in class or on campus. America was founded on the principles of free speech and expression, and without the ability to speak freely, Boise State would be a lesser school. I am proud to go to a university which will now respect the First Amendment, and allow for the open discourse which institutions of higher learning require.”

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