We recently discussed the students who conducted a protest inside the home of Berkeley Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and his wife, law Professor Catherine Fisk. The students, including UC Berkeley law student Malak Afaneh, refused to stop disrupting the dinner as Chemerinsky and Fisk reminded them that this is their home, not a public forum. Now Afaneh is claiming a First Amendment right to enter a private home and protest and she is citing legal advisers with the National Lawyers Guild.
Chemerinsky was told to expect protests and student groups demanded that the dinners be cancelled.
Once at the dinner, Afaneh and others began their protest. She started by saying “as-salamu alaykum” — or peace and blessings to you — when Fisk took hold of her and tried to take away her microphone.
Fisk teaches civil rights and civil liberties at Berkeley.
An Instagram post by the two student groups said that Fisk was guilty of “violently assaulting” Afaneh. In the video, there is physical contact but it is not violent. It is reminiscent of the recent controversy involving Tulane Professor and former CNN CEO Walter Issacson who was accused of assault in pushing a disruptive protester out of an event.
There are already petitions to seek punishment for the “assault.”
Putting aside the lack of civility and respect in such a demonstration, the lack of legal knowledge is startling. Afaneh insisted that “the National Lawyers Guild has informed us this is our First Amendment right.”
It is unclear how the Guild or Afaneh would construe a private party on non-university grounds to be a forum permitting such protests. If protected, would Chemermisky have to just live with the protesters until they were finished with his home?
The answer is obviously no.
The NLG may be suggesting that, even if held in a private residence, this was a public forum as part of a law school activity. However, that connection alone would not convert a home into a public forum. Moreover, even in a public forum, students would not be permitted to disrupt a public forum. Students have a protected right to protest outside of classrooms and events. They do not have a right to prevent others from speaking or listening to opposing views.
These students seem to be as unburdened by knowledge as they are by civility.