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No. 20-1066October Term 2020Decided Jul 2, 2021Updated Jul 2, 2021

Docket 20-1066October Term 2020 (2020–2021)

Hoggard v. Rhodes

A student sued Arkansas State University officials and trustees, claiming they violated her First Amendment rights by making her move a table from an area reserved for registered student groups.

Case status

Decided · July 2, 2021

Read the opinion (PDF)
Current stage
Decided
Latest event
Decision released Jul 2, 2021
Case Accepted
Arguments
Decision ReleasedJul 2, 2021
What it's about

A student sued Arkansas State University officials and trustees, claiming they violated her First Amendment rights by making her move a table from an area reserved for registered student groups. The case asks whether those officials can be held personally liable or are protected by qualified immunity because prior court decisions did not clearly establish that their conduct was unconstitutional.

Question presented

Whether high-ranking University administrators and members of the Board of Trustees, none of whom enforced the Tabling Policy against petitioner or created that policy, are entitled to qualified immunity and therefore not personally liable to petitioner because lower-level university officials asked petitioner to move a table out of a limited designated public forum reserved for registered student organizations, and the most analogous binding precedent at the time had upheld similar and more burdensome policies against First Amendment challenges.

Case path

United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit / Decision released Jul 2, 2021

Area

First Amendment

Timing

Decided July 2, 2021

The Court released its decision on July 2, 2021 without hearing oral argument.

Activity

Docket activity2
  • Opinion added: Opinion

    Jul 2, 2021 | Court records

  • Brief added: Petition

    Jan 28, 2021 | Court records

Grounding

Grounding
Primary-source trail available.
Note
Plain-English explainer. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.
Checked
Jul 25, 2026
Primary materials5