On Mar 11, 10:48 pm, "HD Radio Fan" wrote:
College Republicans at San Francisco State University desecrated the name of
Allah by stepping on makeshift Hezbollah and Hamas flags, charged school
officials who brought the students before a hearing yesterday.

The trouble began at an Oct. 17 anti-terrorism rally in which the students
stepped on butcher paper painted to resemble the flags of the Middle East
terrorist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah. The College Republicans say
they simply copied the script from an image on the Internet and didn't know
it bore the name of Allah in Arabic script.

University spokeswoman Ellen Griffin, however, told San Francisco Chronicle
columnist Debra J. Saunders the university "stands behind this process" of
investigating the students for possible punishment.

"I don't believe the complaint is about the desecration of the flag,"
Griffin said. "I believe that the complaint is the desecration of Allah."

The university has 10 days from the time of the hearing to decide whether to
sanction the students.

Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in
Education, or FIRE, which represents the students, insisted the school has
no basis for punishing them.

"The College Republicans engaged in unequivocally protected political
expression, and it strains all credibility to think the SFSU administration
does not know this," he said. "There is nothing to try or investigate here
other than protected expression."

Ten days after the incident, a student filed a formal complaint with the
university against the campus group, alleging "attempts to incite violence
and create a hostile environment" and "actions of incivility."

FIRE argues the university's Office of Student Programs and Leadership
Development could have settled the matter informally or dismissed the
charges instead of pressing forward today with a hearing.

The legal advocacy group sent a letter to SFSU President Robert A. Corrigan
Jan. 23 arguing no American public institution can lawfully prosecute
students for engaging in political protest or for desecrating religious
symbols.

FIRE asserted "incitement" and creating a "hostile environment" are legal
terms not applicable to the College Republicans' actions of stepping on
flags.

"SFSU has a duty to uphold the First Amendment rights of all of its
students, even if their expressive activity offends the religious
sensibilities of some," the letter stated.

University officials wrote back Jan. 29, saying the school would continue to
investigate the complaint "to give all parties the confidence that they will
be heard and fairly treated by a panel that includes representatives of all
the university's key constituencies."

A follow-up letter by FIRE urged Corrigan to call off the hearing, warning
"if you continue to ignore your constitutional obligations, you risk
personal liability for depriving your students of their rights."

"This is not even a close call, legally speaking," FIRE Vice President
Robert L. Shibley contended. "The First Amendment protects using or
destroying flags in political protest, and even SFSU administrators must
realize that they cannot prosecute students for failing to respect a
religious symbol."

http://www.discoverthenetwork.org/Ar...acing%20charge....
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Est autem fides credere quod nondum vides; cuius fidei merces est videre
quod credis.
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SO... FREE SPEECH IS DEAD AT SF STATE [.]

but it is still ok to burn the american flag and hang the
us president in effigy' cause its' all about free speech
on american college campuses . ~ RHF