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Pro-life advocate cleared of failure to vacate charge
Prosecutor dismisses charges 'in the best interest of justice'
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FarkRAPID CITY -- The pro-life advocate who was arrested for failing to vacate the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology campus about two weeks ago is no longer facing criminal charges.
Pennington County deputy state's attorney Sarah Seljeskog dropped one count of failure to vacate against 18-year-old California resident Joey Cox on May 16. According to a court document, the count was dismissed "in the best interest of justice."
Cox, who faced a maximum penalty of 30 days in jail and a $500 fine for the class 2 misdemeanor, was arrested May 8 after visiting the campus after a phone conversation with Julie Smoragiewicz, the vice president of university relations.
Cox had called to tell Smoragiewicz that he and other members of a pro-life advocacy group, Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, planned to visit the campus in an hour. The group had planned to set up signs and hand out anti-abortion brochures and information.
Smoragiewicz told him the university would need two weeks' notice before demonstrating on the campus, as per campus policy.
Cox and the group arrived on campus an hour later and were greeted by Rapid City police, and Cox was arrested.
"The Constitution does not require individuals to obtain permission before they exercise their First Amendment rights," said Cox's lawyer, Stephen Wesolick of the Wesolick Law Firm in Rapid City. "Furthermore, the school's administration misapplied their policy when they chose to silence Mr. Cox."
Wesolick made the statement through a news release from Alliance Defense Fund, a national organization dedicated to protecting first-amendment rights. Wesolick is involved in the group and agreed to represent Cox for free.
At the time, Smoragiewicz said she told the group they could either come back at a later date or set up on the sidewalk outside Tech's student center - an area not on campus property but one that gets a lot of traffic.
Smoragiewicz said her priority was student safety and comfort.
"We just didn't feel it was appropriate to look at adjusting our policy with an hour's notice," she said. "Most groups get approved," she said. "I can't imagine there would have been any issue."
Wesolick argued that Cox should not have been required to adhere to the two-week notice policy that Smoragiewicz said applied to the situation.
"Free speech is a protected right under the Constitution and does not require adherence to this type of school policy," he said in the ADF news release. "Mr. Cox acted entirely within his rights when he chose to engage in pro-life speech on the school's campus."
After his arrest, Cox was released on a $300 cash bond. He continued on the group's Campus Life Tour, which visits campuses nationwide to deliver its pro-life message.
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