Temple University: Unconstitutional Security Fee for Geert Wilders Presentation

The student group Temple University Purpose hosted an event featuring Dutch politician Geert Wilders in Temple's Anderson Hall on October 20, 2009. Wilders came to notice in the United States largely through the controversy surrounding his short film Fitna, released in 2008, which features various passages of the Koran interspersed with scenes or descriptions of violence or hatred on the part of Muslims. The movie was shown as part of his presentation at Temple. Extra security was provided for the event, which proceeded without disturbance. More than a month later, Temple University Purpose was surprised with an $800 bill for a "Security Officer," with the explanation that the charge was for the costs "to secure the room and building."

In a letter to Temple University President Ann Weaver Hart, FIRE described the university's constitutional responsibility to pay for any extra security it deemed necessary for the event. FIRE cited the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Forsyth County v. Nationalist Movement (1992), which struck down a local government's increased fee for police protection for controversial events because "Speech cannot be financially burdened, any more than it can be punished or banned, simply because it might offend a hostile mob."