Justice Gus Reichbach, Law ‘70, was “officially” the first student at Columbia University to be disciplined for participation in the 1968 protests. He was found not guilty for assaulting a Columbia public safety official.
The entire 1968 protests seemed out of hand; police were told to “clear the steps,” and those very steps under Low Library met student skulls and blood at the hands of authorities. Although something like that is not bound to happen any time soon (I hope), the frustrating antics of Columbia officials, and especially their public safety peeps, are still very much around.
The video here offers short recollections of the event and ends in truly ironic style. Public Safety pulls up on College Walk to harass Justice Reichbach about whether he’s affiliated with Columbia and if they had permission to conduct an interview. The sergeant promptly explained that nobody can interview without university permission, to which Reichbach said “I didn’t realize Columbia had an exception to the First Amendment.” Reichbach laid down the law on that one, so to speak. And despite Reichbach telling him he was invited by the Law School to speak in about 5 minutes, the sergeant ended the conversation with a nice sweaty, smothering hand (covering the camera, that is).
This isn’t the first time CUPS has ruined a perfectly nice day and it won’t be the last either. No offence, but some of those people in security uniforms aren’t the brightest of chaps, by any means.
The sergeant promptly explained that nobody can interview without university permission, to which Reichbach said “I didn’t realize Columbia had an exception to the First Amendment.”
Funny, because I didn’t realize that Columbia was a state actor.
For someone who made it all the way to being a “State Supreme Court Judge,” Reichbach sure seems to be pretty horribly uninformed about how law works.
Said anon,
On April 27, 2008 at 12:34 pm:
He could conceivably be making an argument based on Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robbins (http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/faclibrary/case.aspx?id=1638), but yeah, he’s probably just being hyperbolic.
Said well,
On April 27, 2008 at 12:44 pm:
Given that Columbia isn’t located in CA, Pruneyard would have no bearing on this situation even if NY hadn’t explicitly rejected such a conclusion in SHAD Alliance v. Smith Haven.
And regardless of what he intended, it’s a pretty dumb statement for him to make, akin to Randy Marsh’s “What, isn’t this America? I’m sorry, I thought this was America!”
Said anon,
On April 27, 2008 at 1:32 pm:
If Columbia University went Nazi commando corporate institution and starting
burning all the American Revolutionary History books that took aim at the
Tories, how much Federal grant money would it get in the years to come?—not
to mention the loss of its tax status as a non-profit organization. This
dictatorship of the corporate Fuhrer model for a “university” doesn’t work in
sane world.
Said Marvin L Foushee,
On April 27, 2008 at 4:45 pm:
Haha. I know Gus Reichbach. He’s the father of an old friend, and a steadfast Brooklynite. It was funny to see him back here, forty years out now.
Said Raphael Pope-Sussman,
On April 27, 2008 at 2:43 am: