Protests, arrests at UT campus: Attorneys talk about criminal trespass laws
AUSTIN (KXAN) — On public university campuses, protesters have the right to peacefully assemble, but they could still face arrest, according to Austin defense attorneys KXAN spoke with following the arrests made Wednesday during a protest at the University of Texas campus.
Logan Campbell, a criminal defense attorney at the law firm of Gergen, Hale & Campbell, discussed the legal implications of protesting and the potential consequences for those involved.
“The UT campus — it is public. You do have the First Amendment right to peacefully protest — to peacefully assemble,” Campbell said. “You do have that First Amendment right, but the First Amendment does have its limitations, so even if you are protesting on public lands such as the UT campus, it can reach the point of being asked to leave.”
The university argued the protest would have infringed on other students’ rights by disrupting the campus during finals. Kevin Lawrence, with the Texas Municipal Police Association, said officers are trained to spot when a protest crosses the line.
“All rights under the Constitution are limited at the point where your exercise of that right infringes on the rights of other individuals,” Lawrence said. “Law enforcement officers are taught free speech stops to be free speech when it becomes disorderly conduct.”
The university issued a dispersal order Wednesday during the protest. But it also pre-emptively sent a letter to protest organizers telling them not to proceed because their plan would violate university rules.
JT Morris, a senior attorney with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said that action may amount to preemptive censorship, saying “the Constitution simply does not allow that.” The organization advocates for First Amendment Rights and has been involved in legal challenges related to it.
“What the university should have done is warn the students ‘if you do engage in conduct that violates neutral, reasonable time/place/manner restrictions or you do engage in violence, then we will act.’ But they shouldn’t have tried to preempt and cancel a protest what turned out to be a very peaceful process ahead of time,” Morris said.
What charges can protesters face?
Campbell said the typical charge someone could face when being arrested during a protest was a criminal trespass charge.
“If it reaches a higher level, you can see ‘obstruction of the passageway.’ If an officer is assaulted, you can even get up to like a third-degree felony assault on a police officer,” Campbell added.
In most cases involving criminal trespass charges during a protest, Campbell said it was not necessarily done to prosecute them, but more so for an arrest to take place in order to disperse the protest or to take the protester off of the premises.
RELATED: Will charges be dropped against UT Austin protesters?
Gene Anthes, a criminal justice attorney at Gunter, Bennett & Anthes, PC, said while the University of Texas is a public school, it has the right to issue criminal trespass warnings and remove students or groups from the property.
Anthes said for a criminal trespass charge to apply, two things must occur. One: There has to be notice that the person or people have to leave. Two: They have to not leave.
The Travis County Attorney’s office told KXAN it reviewed all 57 cases related to the protest but they had “deficiencies in probable cause affidavits” so those cases will not proceed and those people were released.
Another potential charge protesters could face included not obeying law enforcement commands, and Anthes said it was possible charges related to rioting or assaulting peace officers could come.
For most arrested students whose charges stick, as long as they have no prior criminal history, Anthes said they would likely receive a fine or community service.
Anthes said the Austin Lawyers Guild, a network of volunteer attorneys, was also working on helping the arrested students with their cases and getting their cases processed more quickly.
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