The Department of Justice filed a statement at the end of January, claiming that UC Berkeley had violated the First Amendment rights of the university’s College Republicans chapter.

The Department of Justice published a statement on January 25, affirming the belief of the UC Berkeley College Republicans and Young America’s Foundation that the public university had been treating conservative guest speakers unfairly.

The Department of Justice today filed a Statement of Interest in Young America’s Foundation and Berkeley College Republicans v. Janet Napolitano. The plaintiffs, Berkeley College Republicans (BCR) and Young America’s Foundation (YAF), allege that the University of California, Berkeley, enforced a double standard when applied to free speech. BCR alleges that UC Berkeley applied a more rigorous and highly discretionary set of rules to their organization compared to other campus groups, especially with respect to “high-profile” campus speakers.

The two groups alleged that UC Berkeley’s “High-Profile Speaker Policy” granted university administrators the authority to place subjective restrictions on events featuring conservative guest speakers.

In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs allege that Berkeley’s “High-Profile Speaker Policy” granted administrators unfettered discretion to decide which speakers are subject to arduous curfews, prohibitive security costs, or undesirable venues. In one instance, administrators—who had full discretion to determine who constituted a “high-profile speaker”—established a 3:00 pm “curfew” that conflicted with class times.

In a short statement, Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand aggressively condemned UC Berkeley for violating the College Republicans’ constitutional rights.

“This Department of Justice will not stand by idly while public universities violate students’ constitutional rights,” Brand said in the statement.