Students win Lawsuit against Texas Southern for Violating First Amendment
By Drew Daniels -- Black College Wire
Issue date: 6/23/08 Section: News
Three former Texas Southern University students who claimed the university retaliated against them by violating their First Amendment rights have been awarded $200,000. A federal jury will award punitive damages this week.
Justin Jordan, Oliver J. Brown and William Hudson filed a lawsuit in 2005, claiming university officials targeted them after they disseminated information about former president Priscilla Slade and other university officials.
"We are very thankful that 12 other people saw the facts and agreed with us that [the] First Amendment had been violated and we were maliciously prosecuted," said Jordan, a TSU public affairs major from Midland, Texas.
The students sued university officials in 2005, accusing administrators of harshly disciplining them for speaking out against corruption.
Jordan, who at the time was freshman class president, said the three students who became known as the TSU Three, stumbled upon on some payroll documents and at first didn't know what they had.
The students played a role in bringing to light a scandal targeting Slade and the misappropriation of fiscal funds. Gov. Rick Perry demanded the resignations of the entire nine member board of regents, and the state put $13 million in funding on hold.
Jordan said the trial was postponed numerous times.
"When people say the wheels of justice turn slow, in terms of things in court, they are not lying," said Jordan describing the process that lasted more than 2 ½ years.
In March Slade, who had been fired the previous year, pleaded no contest to the charges and agreed to a compromise repayment of $127,000. She was ordered to perform 400 hours of community service. Another university official was sentenced to prison.
"All we wanted was a more effective and responsive administration," he said. "Dr. Slade didn't care about the university, only cared about her image."
In January 2005, the students started a petition to remove her as the president of the university, acquiring more than 300 signatures, Jordan said. He recalled the school trying to put them in jail when the case first broke.
Justin Jordan, Oliver J. Brown and William Hudson filed a lawsuit in 2005, claiming university officials targeted them after they disseminated information about former president Priscilla Slade and other university officials.
"We are very thankful that 12 other people saw the facts and agreed with us that [the] First Amendment had been violated and we were maliciously prosecuted," said Jordan, a TSU public affairs major from Midland, Texas.
The students sued university officials in 2005, accusing administrators of harshly disciplining them for speaking out against corruption.
Jordan, who at the time was freshman class president, said the three students who became known as the TSU Three, stumbled upon on some payroll documents and at first didn't know what they had.
The students played a role in bringing to light a scandal targeting Slade and the misappropriation of fiscal funds. Gov. Rick Perry demanded the resignations of the entire nine member board of regents, and the state put $13 million in funding on hold.
Jordan said the trial was postponed numerous times.
"When people say the wheels of justice turn slow, in terms of things in court, they are not lying," said Jordan describing the process that lasted more than 2 ½ years.
In March Slade, who had been fired the previous year, pleaded no contest to the charges and agreed to a compromise repayment of $127,000. She was ordered to perform 400 hours of community service. Another university official was sentenced to prison.
"All we wanted was a more effective and responsive administration," he said. "Dr. Slade didn't care about the university, only cared about her image."
In January 2005, the students started a petition to remove her as the president of the university, acquiring more than 300 signatures, Jordan said. He recalled the school trying to put them in jail when the case first broke.
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