A federal appeals court today upheld a decision giving the U.S. Military Academy authority to ban political protesters on Graduation Day.Goshen civil rights attorney Michael Sussman and the Democratic Alliance of Orange County had asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to overturn a federal judge's decision barring them from campus.
Their request would have required West Point Garrison Commander Col. Brian Crawford to open the gates to roughly 1,000 anti-war demonstrators tomorrow. But in a decision issued today, the appeals court reaffirmed the Academy's long-stated position that it is a non-public forum exempt from some forms of free-speech. "Plaintiffs' argument that the planned address of the Vice President affords them a right to express their political opinions within the confines of the West Point Cantonment is without merit," the court ruled. "Although the Vice President is a political figure, he is also an incumbent official in the United States Government, second in rank only to the Commander-in-Chief.
"As such, his mere presence on campus to address members of the United States military on their graduation day does not convert the West Point campus into a public forum."