The University of California’s failed attempt to shut down a student-run publication satirizing “safe spaces” and “trigger warnings” has resulted in over $800,000 in legal fees.
In the aftermath, the UCSD student government denounced The Koala for “the offensive and hurtful language it chooses to publish” and in retaliation, denied funding to all student media outlets. The Koala then filed a First Amendment lawsuit in 2016, arguing that the university was withholding funds to censor their speech.
A federal judge tossed the lawsuit in 2017, but the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the decision in 2019, acknowledging the change in UCSD’s funding policy as a means to prevent The Koala from excising its freedom of speech.
Throughout the 4-year legal battle, the university hired different law firms that usually charged five figures for their services. The records suggest that the first invoice came from Chicago’s Schiff Hardin, which would submit 30 more invoices from 2016 to October 2020, ranging from less than $100 to $110,000. There was also an invoice from Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe in November 2019 for more than $150,000.
By contrast, the funding originally allocated for The Koala was only $450.
“For those keeping track at home, that’s just north of 1,820 times the amount of money The Koala was denied under the unconstitutional funding change,” FIRE’s Adam Steinbaugh wrote. “If speech ain’t free, it'll cost the taxpayers and tuition-paying students a pretty penny.”
Since 2015, many colleges and universities have designated safe spaces where students could go to escape from the stress of controversial ideas. Some others, notably the University of Chicago, rejected the concept, holding that college students should learn to navigate through controversial topics rather than avoid them.