ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against the University of New Mexico (UNM) following a lawsuit accusing the school of “viewpoint and content discrimination” and imposing “excessive and unreasonable” security fees on a student organization that brought Riley Gaines to an on-campus event. The lawsuit was filed by members of the university’s […]
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against the University of New Mexico (UNM) following a lawsuit accusing the school of “viewpoint and content discrimination” and imposing “excessive and unreasonable” security fees on a student organization that brought Riley Gaines to an on-campus event.
The lawsuit was filed by members of the university’s Turning Point USA (TPUSA) chapter and the Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF) earlier this year. In 2023, the conservative group was planning to bring Gaines, a former competitive swimmer who speaks about her experience competing against a transgender athlete and has sparked protests and debate over college-level sports, to speak on campus.
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The TPUSA chapter was told by Timothy Stump, lieutenant of the UNM Police Department, that they needed to agree ahead of time to pay the $5,384.75 in security fees or else the event involving Gained would be canceled, according to the lawsuit.
Initially, the TPUSA chapter was quoted that security fees would be more than $10,000, which was reportedly based on fees for TPUSA events in the past, some of which Stump noted involved conservative speakers that generated protests at UNM, according to the lawsuit.
Stump agreed to lower the security fees and Gaines visited UNM on Oct. 4 where she spoke to a crowd of 200 people. The plaintiffs wrote in the lawsuit that the event was open to the public, free, and that fewer than 10 protesters showed up for a demonstration that was “peaceful and non-disruptive.”
To date, the plaintiffs have not paid the fees and U.S. District Judge David Urias granted a preliminary injunction in favor of the plaintiffs, ruling that UNM must cease enforcing security fees for speech events. “Defendants are enjoined from enforcing the security fee policy vis-à-vis speech events and the collection of payment for security fees related to the Gaines event,” Urias wrote in his ruling.
Urias also wrote that the plaintiffs showed that UNM’s security fee policy is “overly broad” and that the policy “does not provide guidance for when they may or may not assess these fees, which contributes to the problem of allowing university officials overly broad discretion.”
The judge also noted that the plaintiffs could face negative consequences if they do not pay UNM the security fees for the event. “UNM’s facilities policy states that failure to pay the security invoice could result “in the immediate loss of scheduling privileges, possible disciplinary action, or possible legal action,” Urias wrote in the injunction.
KRQE News 13 reached out to UNM about the ruling and received the following statement:
“UNM is committed to the First Amendment and the right of free speech on campus. UNM intends to comply with the court’s order, which was limited to speech events. While UNM is currently prohibited from charging fees for the security it provides for speech events, UNM remains committed to ensuring the safety of our campus and the safety of our students, faculty, staff and visitors.”
University of New Mexico
Gaines, SLF, and TPUSA celebrated the injunction; read their statements included on the TPUSA website below:
“Sadly, we see this all the time. Conservative student voices are silenced on campus through excessive fees blamed on security, like in this case, or other red tape that makes it harder for conservative students to use their voice on campus. Colleges and universities should be a place of critical thinking where different ideas are welcomed and encouraged. They should not be a place of political discrimination and suppression of First Amendment rights, like in this case. We are very grateful that the court granted this injunction and saw the irreparable harm that would come if these high fees were applied to our event.”
Riley Gaines, Director of the Riley Gaines Center at the Leadership Institute
“This is a major win in the battle to protect the First Amendment rights of college students, regardless of the viewpoint they express. Governments at every level – including state universities – must equally protect the right to free speech and expression. In this case, UNM enforced a high fee for students wanting to host Riley Gaines just because of who she was and what she was expected to say about the challenges of men competing in women’s sports. While we are still reviewing this opinion, we are very pleased with the preliminary injunction we received from the court in this case and look forward to moving forward to protect the rights of these UNM students.”
Kimberly Hermann, SLF executive director …Read More