(The College Fix) — A federal court ruled that a former student of Mount St. Joseph University may proceed in suing school officials for harassment he faced related to his decision to decline to take the COVID-19 vaccine. Matthew Warman alleged that his Fourth Amendment rights were violated when he was detained by campus police.
Warman, who is Catholic, objected to the vaccine on religious grounds, but was unable to receive an exemption. He was enrolled in the graduate nursing program at the Catholic university in Ohio. He is a Marine veteran who suffers from PTSD and brain injuries.
Warman, a former Marine, received several emails and phone calls from the campus security initially, and was detained and “berated” when he arrived at the security office.
According to court documents MSJU police officer Norb Koopman and campus police Chief Kevin Koo, defendants in the case, told Warman he was a “****ing idiot” in need of “a new religion,” and that he should “grow the **** up and get the **** shot.” They also told him that the shot did not violate his Catholic beliefs. During the meeting, the officers “also handed him Veterans Administration paperwork and ‘told him to fill it out in order to resign from the [university],’” according to the ruling.
They required him to stay in the police station for an hour “until Karen Elliott, MSJU’s Director of Mission and Ministry, arrived.” They only let him leave after finding out Elliott, a Catholic nun, would not be coming.
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Warman’s favor and said he could sue for Fourth Amendment violations, even though the campus police department is part of a private college. It upheld the dismissal of most of his claims, including religious discrimination violations.
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The three-judge panel ruled that “taking the facts in the complaint as true, Warman has alleged a plausible claim under the Fourth Amendment.” The officers, according to the opinion, “acted under color of state law.”
Warman’s attorney did not respond to a voicemail left in the past weeks asking for comment. The legal team for the campus police officers also did not respond to a phone call in the past weeks.
The College Fix also emailed university public relations representative Greg Greene on Tuesday but did not receive a reply. The Fix asked for comment on why the university used campus police to enforce its mandate and for any additional context on what transpired.
However, a constitutional scholar and frequent litigator said the law is likely on Warman’s side.
“Campus police may at times exceed the legal power and authority they possess by virtue of being granted limited police powers while on campus property,” Professor John Banzhaf told The Fix via email.
“The factors which a court would consider in deciding whether a detention by campus police rises to the level of a Fourth Amendment violation probably is and should be the same if the police were municipal cops or state troopers,” Banzhaf said.
He also noted that the fact Warman was not allowed to leave the interrogation, and that this factor makes Warman’s case especially valid since the detention was on campus.
“From both a constitutional and statutory point of view, the decision seems sound, and the opinion well written,” the George Washington University law professor said. “It is a reminder that both universities and their individual police officers can be sued for illegal (especially unconstitutional) conduct.”
He said this ruling could prompt other individuals to come forward with allegations of harassment at the hands of university security officers. “Indeed, if this decision is sufficiently publicized, it may encourage other students who have likewise been victims of misconduct by campus police to sue. With regard to the individual officers, they can be sued in their individual capacities.”
Reprinted with permission from The College Fix.
