Flores v. Bennett

Summary

In November 2021, students with the Clovis Community College chapter of the Young Americans for Freedom, a conservative youth activism organization, received permission from administrators to hang flyers on bulletin boards “advocating for freedom” and listing the death tolls of communist regimes.  Soon after the flyers went up, a Clovis administrator wrote in emails obtained via public records request that he would “gladly” take the flyers down, following complaints about their content.  This administrator also write that approving the flyers in the first place may have been a “mistake,” and that Clovis instead should have censored them under a policy that states: “Posters with inappropriate or offense [sic] language or themes are not permitted and will not be approved.”

On November 12, 2021, Clovis President Lori Bennett personally ordered the flyers removed under what Plaintiffs felt were false pretenses.

In August of 2022, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) filed suit against administrators in both their personal and official capacities.  In October, 2022, a federal district court judge ordered granting Plaintiffs Motion for Preliminary Injunction, enjoining the enforcement the College’s flyer policy in so far as it required preapproval from College administrators or staff and prohibits “inappropriate or offense language or themes.”

Soon after, in November, 2022, Defendants filed an appeal with the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.