Judge Refuses to Bar Ex-Klansman From Debate

Groups that favor Proposition 209 lost a court battle Monday to keep ex-Klansman David Duke from appearing as an opponent of affirmative action in a debate Wednesday at Cal State Northridge.

As the university stepped up security measures for the debate, which is expected to draw a large crowd, lawyers from the conservative Individual Rights Foundation said they will be back in court today to try again to stop the debate between Duke and civil rights activist Joe Hicks.

The pro-209 camp contends that Duke was invited to the debate as a tactic by opponents to smear the initiative as racist. Proposition 209 would prohibit state and local governments from giving preferential treatment based on race or gender in hiring, contracting and college admissions.

Their initial legal challenge failed Monday when Van Nuys Superior Court Judge William MacLaughlin refused to issue a temporary restraining order blocking the debate. The legal challenge, filed on behalf of Cal State Northridge graduate student Kelly S. Novak, accused the university of improperly using public money to fund the debate and “trying to influence the outcome of the election” by using an avowed racist as the proposition’s spokesman.

The lawsuit asked the judge to forbid the university to host any debate on affirmative action without the participation of a “qualified representative . . . first approved by the ‘Yes on 209’ committee.”

“Our claim is that they are using taxpayer funds to undermine the initiative,” said John Herr of the Center for the Study of Popular Culture, which works with the Individual Rights Foundation.

“The judge dismissed the [request for a] temporary restraining order, but didn’t take any action on the complaint. So we are going back, before another judge, with more supporting evidence.

“We think we can show this is not an attempt by the students to foster a reasoned debate,” Herr said. “The mind-set here is . . . one of trying to undermine” the initiative in the minds of the voters.

But John Francis, the attorney representing the university’s Student Senate, said previous court cases have held that student fees--which are being used to pay Duke and Hicks $4,000 each to appear--are not public funds.

“Their argument is that this is a conspiracy by the students to taint [Proposition] 209 so much by David Duke’s presence that it will cause the opponents of 209 to have a better chance to prevail. I only wish the students were sophisticated enough to come up with a strategy like that,” Francis said.

“They wanted a controversial speaker. They wanted a good debate.”

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Meanwhile, on campus, preparations are underway to accommodate what is expected to be one of the largest crowds ever to attend a student-sponsored debate.

Amid reports that demonstrators plan to disrupt Duke’s speech, university officials say they have asked the state to send university police reinforcements and arranged for the Los Angeles Police Department to conduct bomb sweeps before the debate. Campus police will search spectators with metal detectors as they enter the Student Union, where the debate will be held.

“We have requested and will receive 30 officers . . . from the state’s critical-response unit, a specialized group trained to handle crowd control, disorderly conduct and emergency situations,” said campus Police Chief Edward Harrison.

Those officers, drawn from college campuses across Southern California, will augment the university’s 15-officer police force.

In addition, Harrison said, approximately 100 LAPD officers will be on alert, ready to be dispatched to the school immediately “in the event things go bad on campus.”

“We’re taking every precaution necessary,” he said. “We don’t anticipate trouble, but we do have young people attending this school and I want their parents to feel safe about their presence here.”

Harrison said several groups have notified campus police that they plan to stage protests during the debate.

One San Francisco-area organization, the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action by Any Means Necessary, has been passing out fliers near San Fernando Valley high schools in the past week, urging students to turn out and “shut down” the debate.

“They’ve put the campus on alert that they want to disrupt the event . . . and we don’t intend to let that happen,” Harrison said. “We welcome the peaceful protesting, but at the debate people have to have a chance to participate in the exchange of ideas.”

Proposition 209 campaign spokeswoman Jennifer Nelson said her group will hold a rally of its own Wednesday at noon at a park near the campus.

“Supporters wanted to do something to show their views,” Nelson said. “We’re not trying to compete with the debate. We’re not a party to this event. It’s been made very clear they’re not interested in any sort of 209 perspective.”

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University administrators expect Wednesday’s debate to be the most heavily attended student-sponsored forum in recent memory. All 770 seats were snapped up within 2 1/2 hours after tickets were made available last week.

The university is arranging overflow facilities in the performing arts center, where 490 people will be able to see the debate broadcast live on a seven-foot closed-circuit television screen. Those tickets will be available, to students only, at 9:30 a.m. today.

“We’ve never had a demand like this before,” said school spokeswoman Carmen Ramos Chandler.

Student Senate President Vladimir Cerna said that is what student leaders had in mind when they voted 12-11 earlier this month to invite the former Ku Klux Klan leader to participate in the debate.

“There was no overwhelming support for this,” Cerna said. “It took a lot of effort and time for the senators to come to a decision. “But I think it will accomplish something important.

“I think the average student on campus who didn’t really know or care what affirmative action was will now ask questions: ‘What is this issue? What is this big fuss about?’ Those people who were not even interested in the beginning will now pick up a brochure here and make an educated vote on Nov. 5,” Cerna said.