Kombe Sefelino was suspended after complaints he was “observed preaching hate speech on campus in reference to homosexuality and homosexuals.” Dean of Students Janique Caffie sent Sefelino a letter laying out the complaints against him. Caffie suspended Sefelino from campus last November and again this March.

But in a filing after the initial lawsuit, Caffie stated she told Sefelino he could return to campus for any “lawful purpose.” Sefelino’s lawyers are with America First Legal, which filed the lawsuit against the community college. “In this case, the Dean of Students said she runs the campus,” said plaintiff’s lawyer Wally Zimilong. “Basically, she said the [First Amendment] does not apply to speech she does not like. The Dean’s perspective here is emblematic of a view shared by most college administrators that America is fundamentally flawed and that the Constitution and the free-enterprise system are abhorrent.”

Sefelino’s court complaint says he “seeks to inform passersby of the Bible’s teachings, urging them to repent of their sins and put their faith in Jesus Christ.”

[This is absolutely protected speech, and suppressing it is a violation of Sefelino’s First Amendment rights, as long as he was not doing anything else illegal at the same time. In the first place, contra many arguments from the Left, there is no “hate speech” exception to the First Amendment. Secondly, this is an expression of religious belief, doubly involving the First Amendment. Other people are free to disagree, rebut, or ignore Selefino, but they are not allowed to silence him. — Ed]