The ordinance came into question after former MSU student Jared Rapp was convicted of “disrupting the normal activity of a university employee” when he confronted a parking enforcement officer, MSU communication senior Ricardo Rego, about a ticket he received. Rego said he felt threatened by Rapp, but Rapp said he did not threaten or assault him. Rego could not be reached for comment Monday.

Rapp’s attorney, J. Nicholas Bostic, said Rapp’s First Amendment rights were violated by the conviction. Ingham County Circuit Judge Paula Manderfield agreed with Bostic’s argument when she overturned Rapp’s conviction Oct. 1.

Although no person can assault or threaten an officer in accordance with other laws, the specific ordinance Rapp was convicted of violating will not be enforced until the appeal is settled, MSU police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor said.

Rapp, who graduated from law school at MSU last spring and resides in East Lansing, said he feels safer on campus knowing his rights are protected without the ordinance. The ordinance was too broadly written and allowed police officers too much discretion in charging people with crimes, he said.

“You can see how (the ordinance) has been misapplied,” he said. “Basically, if you ask a bus driver directions rudely, you disrupted him. Where do you draw the line? Basically, if you don’t like someone, you can get him prosecuted.”

Dunnings said he wants the Michigan Court of Appeals to determine whether the ordinance is broad enough to threaten the First Amendment rights of people who are not violating the law because he wants the final word from a higher court.

“Let’s say you looked at the officer and said, ‘You’re writing me a ticket I don’t agree you should be writing. Could you please give me your badge number so I can look into it?’” he said. “If they felt (the ordinance) could possibly cover that type of behavior, it could be something to look into.”

The Court of Appeals has to agree to review the case and Dunnings said he did not know when the appeal could take place.

Construction management senior Nathan Mahoney said although he understands the purpose behind the ordinance, he could see a potential for it to be abused.

“I feel people have the right to question authority figures as long as they do it in responsible manner,” he said. “The university could try to use the ordinance as a blanket to stop the questioning of anything they do.”

The Board of Trustees likely will wait for the appeal decision before making permanent changes to the ordinance, MSU Trustee Colleen McNamara said. The trustees could discuss it at their Oct. 29 meeting, she said.

“We certainly don’t want to create a situation where a student is in jeopardy if they exercise their rights to protest about something,” she said. “We’ll see how it goes. If it looks like that’s how the ordinance is written, then we will do something about it.”