US judge allows suit over Berkeley speakers to move forward

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A U.S. judge is allowing a free speech lawsuit against officials at the University of California, Berkeley to move forward, although she says there is no evidence the school discriminated against speakers with conservative views.

U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney ruled on Wednesday that the Berkeley College Republicans and Young America’s Foundation could challenge university restrictions on speakers and a $9,000 fee the school charged to host conservative commentator Ben Shapiro.

But Chesney said the plaintiffs had failed to show the restrictions on conservative speakers, including commentator Ann Coulter, were the result of liberal bias.

The lawsuit was filed last year after a campus talk by Coulter didn’t take place in the wake of violence before a scheduled talk by another conservative speaker.