RESTORING THE FIFTH AMENDMENT. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education claims a partial victory at Northern Illinois University.

"FIRE commends Northern Illinois University for finally agreeing to recognize Students for Sensible Drug Policy, but NIU's recognition and funding policies still violate students' First Amendment rights," FIRE President Greg Lukianoff said. "NIU's rules brazenly flout Supreme Court precedent by discriminating against all ‘political' and ‘religious' groups. NIU needs to reform its policies to ones that do not invite such extensive double standards, confusion, and abuse."

The Student Association Senate's criteria for recognition of groups remain generally a muddle. The Foundation's victory is incomplete. An administrator essentially ordered the Student Association to recognize the drug policy group, but relying on administrators to rule on Bill of Rights violations on an ad hoc basis is suboptimal. (How many times has the Foundation gone after administrators who commit Bill of Rights violations on an ad hoc basis?)