Southern Illinois University Carbondale's (SIUC) Student Judicial Affairs was not expected by many to issue a ruling on Marc Torney's case today. However after a 90-minute hearing at the SIU Arena, Terry Huffman announced that the charges of disorderly conduct and violating SIUC's demonstration polices would be dropped and that Torney was found not guilty of disobedience.

Despite being the last day of class before finals week, a rescheduling in time, and an eleventh hour location switch to the outskirts of campus, an estimated 130 to 160 people attended Torney's hearing at 9 a.m. Friday, April 30 at the arena. The general public was allowed to attend the hearing, but the press was barred by the adminisistration from recording the event.
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Torney, a senior honors student in SIUC's Department of History, was there to represent himself before Terry Huffman, Coordinator of Student Judicial Affairs.

The issue revolves around an action on Friday, March 19, in which Torney was handing out flyers beside a group demonstration called a "Die-In" to protest the one year anniversary of the war in Iraq. Torney was inexplicably singled out by SIU police as the organizer and leader of the group. One month later, he was surprised to receive a written notice in the mail officially charging him with disobedience, disorderly conduct and violating SIU's demonstation policy. If found guilty of such violations, Torney would have faced censure, suspension or expulsion.

Inside the arena Friday morning, bright lights were directed on a lone table placed at the center of the arena's floor. Huffman, Torney and Richard Whitney, an attorney serving as Torney's silent advisor, were the only people on the floor. All others were seated in the stands.

Huffman opened the proceedings with a brief statement outlining the hearing's procedure. After Huffman noticed a camera flash from the audience, he stated that no pictures would be allowed to be taken. Several members of the crowd asked why, and Huffman responded by repeating his original statement several times, puncuating his final remark with the threat of removal for anyone taking photos. As part of protocol, Torney told Huffman that he would prefer the media be allowed to record and take pictures at the hearing.

Following that, Huffman opened the hearing by reading a letter from U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello supporting Torney's right to free speech and his belief that the SIU's demonstration policy was flawed.

Following Costello's letter, Huffman read a letter from SIU Chancellor Walter Wendler in response to the issue. Wendler declared that the hearing was not about free speech, but about violations of the Student Conduct Code. However, Wendler went on to say in the letter that the administration was working on revising the code.

Huffman then read the charges against Torney and called SIU police officer Webb to the table to testify as a witness to the incident on March 19. Webb was the only one of three SIU police officers that filed reports on Torney's actions to attend the hearing. Huffman questioned officer Webb, followed by Torney. During the questioning, it became clear that Webb was unfamiliar with the specifics regarding SIU's demonstration policy.

When asked if Webb was familiar with the overall demonstration policy of SIUC, he replied, "Somewhat."

Huffman then turned the proceeding over to Torney. Torney read a prepared statement to the audience and then then called in witnesses Erik Carlin, Robbie Lieberman, and Raphi Rechitsky. Also included was a sworn written statement from a wheelchair-bound student at SIUC that claimed the demonstrators at the Die-In were not obstructing traffic on the north side of the Student Center that day.

Following the witnesses, Huffman announced his ruling in favor or Torney, which cleared him of three charges.

Torney and his supporters were jubilant. However, the fact that Torney was cleared of all charges does not mean that supporters of free speech will let the issue rest. Torney said he hopes the momentum generated with this issue will spread across college and university campuses across the United States and that students will challenge their administration to remove stifling policy codes that restrict free speech on campus.