ACLJ Gets University of New Orleans to Change Policy Clearing the Way for Distribution of Religious Literature on Campus.

NEW ORLEANS -- The American Center for Law and Justice, which specializes in constitutional law, announced today it has reached a settlement agreement with the University of New Orleans which clears the way for religious literature to be distributed on campus and brings an end to a one year old lawsuit the ACLJ filed against the university on behalf of a missionary who was prohibited from distributing religious tracts on campus because school officials said the material may be offensive.

"This is an important resolution that protects the First Amendment rights of our client," said Stuart J. Roth, Senior Counsel of the ACLJ, which filed the suit on behalf of the missionary. "The university setting is designed to accommodate a wide variety of political and religious views. Our client was prohibited from exercising her constitutional rights and that is why we went to federal court on her behalf. We are pleased to announce that a settlement agreement has been reached and that the university will now permit that religious speech to occur on campus."

The ACLJ filed suit in U.S. District Court in New Orleans in July 2003 on behalf of Michelle Beadle, a Messianic Jew who works as a missionary for CJF Ministries, a non-profit organization that shares the Good News of Jesus the Messiah with Jewish people.

The suit contended that Beadle had contacted officials at the University of New Orleans (UNO) in October 2002 to get permission to distribute a religious tract entitled: "You Can Say Anything...Almost!" that included examples of how in today's environment you can get away with saying almost anything - no matter how outrageous. The tract concludes that there is still one thing that you cannot say without triggering an angry response, and that is the statement: "Jews should believe in Jesus." The suit contended UNO denied Beadle permission to distribute the tract because it contained the statement, "Jews should believe in Jesus," which the university said "could be offensive to some people."

The lawsuit challenged the UNO policy saying it was flawed because it requires material to be presented in advance to a sole university official who has no guidelines or criteria to direct the official in their decision whether to permit or deny speech. The suit also contended that the policy is overbroad and represents an unconstitutional prior restraint.

The University of New Orleans has revised its policy regarding free speech on campus and has agreed to permit Beadle to distribute her religious tracts. The parties reached an agreement at a settlement conference before a U.S. Magistrate earlier this month in New Orleans. The agreement became final on Friday when the court entered an order dismissing the lawsuit pursuant to the terms of the agreement. The ACLJ received notification today that the suit had been dismissed.

The American Center for Law and Justice specializes in constitutional law and is based in Washington, D.C. and its website address is www.aclj.org.