A student recently filed a lawsuit against the University in the U.S. District Court. Patrick Esfeller, disaster science and management junior, filed the lawsuit Jan. 31 in the Middle District of Louisiana. Esfeller is suing former Chancellor Sean O’Keefe and the LSU Board of Supervisors, according to the lawsuit. Esfeller is accusing the University of violating his right to free speech, right to due process of law, right to property and counsel and right to privacy under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. Esfeller is seeking a preliminary and permanent injunction restraining the enforcement of the University’s Code of Student Conduct which restricts the free exercise of speech and to restrain the University from taking action against Esfeller as a result of being found in violation of the code. Esfeller seeks an award for attorney’s fees, costs and monetary damages to be determined by the court. Donald Hodge Jr., attorney for Esfeller and The Daily Reveille columnist, said the Code of Student Conduct is “vague and overbroad” in its definition of protected speech. Disputes between Esfeller and the University started in November 2006 when Judicial Affairs charged Esfeller with four violations of non-academic misconduct – harassment, violation of city, parish, state or federal law, violation of regulation of the University and the “commission of any of the foregoing listed offenses” – according to the lawsuit. Hodge said the charges were filed against Esfeller because of a breakup between himself and his ex-girlfriend. Hodge said Esfeller had written a Facebook.com “note” about the dispute and Judicial Affairs contacted him concerning the note. The hearing panel for Judicial Affairs found Esfeller in violation of all four charges. Esfeller was “placed on disciplinary probation until completion of an anger management course, upon which time he would be placed on warning probation until graduation” according to the lawsuit. Esfeller made appeals to the University on the “basis of procedural errors” made by Judicial Affairs. Esfeller brought the matter to O’Keefe in September 2007 and was denied the appeal in December 2007. Eric Norman, director of Judicial Affairs, and Rosemary Blum, associate director of Judicial Affairs, were unable to be reached for comment on the charges brought by Judicial Affairs against Esfeller. K.C. White, assistant vice chancellor and dean of students, said the case is beyond the scope of Judicial Affairs, and the role of Judicial Affairs is to enforce the Code of Student Conduct.
—-Contact J.J. Alcantara at [email protected]