A university ordinance that could land students in jail for continuously making too much noise in the library or flickering the lights during an exam was struck down and deemed unconstitutional Friday by the Michigan Supreme Court, following the ruling of a case that took four years to decide.
The ordinance, which prohibited the disruption of a person, firm or agency working for the university, was placed under the public eye in the case of former MSU law student Jared Rapp, who confronted MSU parking employee Ricardo Rego in September 2008 after he found a ticket on his car.
Rapp, now 29 and an MSU alumnus, was charged with a misdemeanor offense for violating the ordinance when he challenged the parking officer because he said he had time left on the meter when the ticket was issued.
In a 5-2 divided opinion, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled the language of the MSU ordinance was overly broad and unconstitutional, according to court documents.
“It took me almost five years to prove that what I did wasn’t criminal,” Rapp said. “I feel vindicated, and I’m proud that the (Michigan) Supreme Court got the decision right. There’s really no question that the ordinance on campus was too broad.”
On the day Rapp found the parking ticket on his car in 2008, he said he approached Rego to ask if he was the one who issued the citation, and the university employee said he did not know and would not release his name.
Rego retreated to his vehicle and called MSU police. Rapp said about four officers showed up and he demanded to know what Rego’s name was. After the officer denied his request, Rapp took a picture of the parking officer to use in court, if Rapp decided to sue.
Rapp said nine days later, a police report about the incident was filed and three weeks later, he was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor offense.
The ordinance does not specify the types of disruptions that are prohibited and fails to limit who is protected, allowing it to be enforced “against anyone who disrupts in any way anyone carrying out any activity for or with MSU,” according to court documents.
Court officials ruled the ordinance could be violated countless times throughout the day because “there are seemingly infinite ways” to disrupt a person and it was therefore unconstitutional.
Rapp said under the ordinance, a student could be sent to jail for 90 days for doing virtually anything that disrupted an MSU employee, such as a professor or staff member.
“For example, you’re canoodling with your girlfriend on this lawn in front of the administration building … and this guy painting the lines of the field can’t do his job because you’re distracting him, then you’re going to jail,” he said. “It’s a reason to arrest anybody for anything.”
The case traveled to four different courts, each with a new outcome. Rapp was first convicted for violating the ordinance in district court, but on appeal, the circuit court reversed the conviction, citing the ordinance restricted Rapp’s First Amendment rights to protest a ticket. The Michigan Court of Appeals then reversed the decision again, leading Rapp to appeal once more with the Michigan Supreme Court.
In Michigan Supreme Court Justice Brian Zahra’s dissent, he said he was not convinced Rapp’s First Amendment freedoms were compromised by the ordinance.
“(The) MSU ordinance … is less concerned with silencing speech and more concerned with allowing legitimate activities on campus to go unimpeded,” Zahra said.
At the end of the day, Rapp said he was pleased with the Michigan Supreme Court’s decision, despite knowing the case still could be taken to a higher court.
“It’s re-establishing the fact that universities are a place for freedom … and certainly angry rebellion when necessary,”
he said.
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