Marijuana group wins free speech lawsuit against Iowa State

DES MOINES, Iowa — A federal judge ruled Friday that Iowa State University administrators violated the constitutional free speech rights of student members of a pro-marijuana group by barring them from using the university logos on T-shirts.

U.S. District Judge James Gritzner issued an order granting members of the ISU chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws a permanent injunction which means university administrators cannot use a trademark policy to prevent the organization from printing shirts depicting a marijuana leaf.

"In this case, plaintiffs have shown injuries by demonstrating that they were not allowed to produce, wear, and sell their desired T-shirts for raising awareness of their cause and that ISU administrators put unique burdens on both their and the group's political expression," Gritzner wrote.

Students Erin Furleigh and Paul Gerlich, former presidents of the group, sued in July 2014 alleging ISU withdrew its approval of...

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