A federal judge has ordered a community college in New Jersey to reinstate the faculty adviser to its student newspaper while he heard arguments in a lawsuit over whether she had been removed because the college’s administration didn’t like the articles her students were publishing. According to the Associated Press, the judge said her removal for the duration of the case would have had a “chilling effect” on free speech at Ocean County College.

The lawsuit stems from a series of clashes between the newspaper, the Viking News, and the college’s administration since 2004, when the paper printed articles criticizing the cost of the inauguration of the president, Jon H. Larson, and his decision to change a college logo. The friction came to a head last December, when the trustees voted to remove the faculty adviser of 35 years, Karen L. Bosley, although she retained her faculty post (The Chronicle, December 15, 2005).

The college said it would comply with the judge’s order, which came in response to a request for a preliminary injunction by the three students who are plaintiffs in the case. They are arguing that Ms. Bosley’s removal was part of efforts by the college to violate their First Amendment rights to freedom of the press and of speech, the Asbury Park Press reported. Such injunctions are often good clues about how a judge is viewing a case over all, and how he might be likely to rule, in the long run, on its merits.