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Oregon State University officials confiscated the bins of an independent student newspaper, The Liberty, and tossed them onto a trash heap. A university officials claimed he did so as part of an effort to beautify the campus, but he left untouched the numerous distribution bins of the main student newspaper, The Daily Barometer.

(courtesy of Alliance Defending Freedom )

Oregon State University has paid $1,000 plus $100,000 for legal fees to former student William Rogers to settle a First Amendment lawsuit over the university trashing distribution boxes for the conservative students newspaper The Liberty and the newspapers in them.

The university, which had been

, did not admit wrongdoing but agreed to

. The suit was

Oregon State students began publishing The Liberty and distributing it around the Corvallis campus in 2002. During winter term 2009, the newspapers' distribution boxes disappeared, even while those of the larger student newspaper, The Daily Barometer, were left standing.

When the boxes were found dumped at the edge of campus, and university facilities officials acknowledged removing them, Rogers and his student group sued. They named Oregon State President Ed Ray and other top officials, prompting Oregon State to fight back on their behalf, saying they had not ordered or even known about the destruction.

Lower-ranking campus officials said they removed The Liberty's boxes to beautify the campus and facilitate traffic. But attorneys for The Liberty successfully argued the actions amounted to unconstitutional shutting down the voice of one student journalism group but not another.

The university has since changed its policies to allow any approved student groups that publish newspapers to distribute them on campus.

"We hope this case will encourage public officials everywhere to respect the freedom of students to engage in the marketplace of ideas that a public university is supposed to be,” David Hacker, lawyer for The Liberty's staff, said in a written statement. “The university has done the right thing, not only through changing their unconstitutional policy, but also by compensating the students for the violation of their First Amendment freedoms.”

The Liberty ceased operations at Oregon State after 2009.

-- Betsy Hammond