U.S. Court Finds Portions of the Student Code at U. of the Virgin Islands Unconstitutional

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has ruled that portions of the student-conduct code at the University of the Virgin Islands are unconstitutional. The appeals court reversed two of a lower court’s decisions in the case, ruling that provisions of the code that prohibited “offensive” or “unauthorized” signs and conduct causing “emotional distress” were overly broad restrictions of speech. In particular, the appeals court ruled against a ban on unauthorized signs because the university had no clear policy for authorizing signs. The court also upheld the lower court’s ruling that a clause that forbade students to cause “mental harm,” or to demean or disgrace anybody, was unconstitutional. The appeals court sided with the university on several other claims.