''Powe v. Miles'', 407 F.2d 73 (2d Cir. 1968), reversed a lower court decision,

United States District Court for the Western District of New York The United States District Court for the Western District of New York (in case citations, W.D.N.Y.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the western parts of Upstate New York. Appeals are taken to the Second Circuit (excep ...

, F.R.Civ. P. 65(a) (2), on an

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

of the court's decision that the District Court did not have

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. Jur ...

on the case as Alfred University (Miles was President of the university), the

defendant In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case. Terminology varies from one jurisdic ...

, was a private institution. The court ruled that though Alfred University was a private institution, the College of Ceramics within the university was a

public institution In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

due to its state funding and governorship hence the court did have jurisdiction to hear the case of those plaintiffs who were students of the College of Ceramics. Those students from other parts of Alfred University were not within the court's jurisdiction as Alfred University did not meet the court's criteria for being a public institution.

Facts

During the annual Parents Day celebration at Alfred University on May 11, 1968, a group of students and faculty staged a demonstration during the part of the

ceremony A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin '' caerimonia''. Church and civil (secular) ...

in which participated the

ROTC The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in all ...

unit. The purpose of the demonstration was to advocate scholarships for black students, add the teaching of

Afro-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of enslav ...

history to the

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...

, end compulsory ROTC at the university, and advocate an end to the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

which was then in progress. The demonstration was non-violent though the signs of the demonstrators did block the view of some people attending the ceremony. The demonstrators positioned themselves such that during the ROTC ceremony which included dignitaries presenting awards to members of the ROTC unit, the dignitaries must walk from the reviewing stand through the line of demonstrators to the ROTC recipients arrayed on the review field. The Dean of Students requested the demonstrators to move citing the demonstration did not meet the university's

policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an organ ...

on demonstrations as the demonstration was obstructing the ceremony and prior

notice Notice is the legal concept describing a requirement that a party be aware of legal process affecting their rights, obligations or duties. There are several types of notice: public notice (or legal notice), actual notice, constructive notice Se ...

of the demonstration had not been provided to university officials. Some of the demonstrators moved to the side of the field sitting down while still holding their signs. The remainder stayed firm in their positions. The Dean of Students then announced the remaining students were suspended and would be provided a

hearing Hearing, or auditory perception, is the ability to perceive sounds In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psycholog ...

as to whether they should be expelled from the university the next day. The ROTC ceremony was conducted despite the demonstration and after the ceremony completed, the demonstrators left the field of their own accord. The next day, the faculty-staff board reviewing the suspension adjourned without a decision until the students could be represented by counsel. After re-convening, the board recommended to President Miles of the university that the students "be separated forthwith from the University." The President instead suspended the students for the remainder of the current semester and the next semester with leave to apply for readmission in the following year. The students were allowed to take final examinations off campus and receive credit for their coursework. The students sued alleging violation of the

Civil Rights Act Civil Rights Act may refer to several acts of the United States Congress, including: * Civil Rights Act of 1866, extending the rights of emancipated slaves by stating that any person born in the United States regardless of race is an American ci ...

, 42 U.S.C., asking the court to provide temporary and final

injunction An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in pa ...

s compelling the university to reinstate them immediately without any penalties, a judgment declaring the university's Policy on Demonstrations to be void, and damages. The students were from two different parts of the university, some were liberal arts students and some were students of the College of Ceramics.

Issue

Did the court have jurisdiction to hear the case and if so, were the students'

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

, specifically the right to

freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...

, violated?

Answer

The court did have jurisdiction to hear the case for the students of the College of Ceramics, a state funded part of the university, but not for the liberal arts students as the university as a whole had insufficient state sponsorship or governance. The court then decided the students' civil rights were not violated. The court determined the students' civil rights were not violated as (1) they had not adhered to the university demonstration policy by giving prior notice yet prior planning was obvious and such notice could have been given (2) the students who moved, though still demonstrating, were not punished by the university as they were no longer obstructing the ceremony.

Reasoning of the Court

The court specified three reasons why it had jurisdiction to hear the case: (1) the College of Ceramics was almost totally state funded by the

State of New York New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. state ...

, (2) the state owned the land and building of the College of Ceramics, and (3) the state was involved in the governance of the College of Ceramics. None of these applied to Alfred University as a whole.

References

External links