12-year case finally resolved with $9 award
Students sued CSI claiming a violation of first amendment rights, win nominal settlement
Monday, November 02, 2009
By FRANK DONNELLY
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Nine dollars.
That's what it took to end a free-speech lawsuit dating back a dozen years, in which a federal court had
previously determined that former College of Staten Island President Dr. Marlene Springer violated the First
Amendment by nullifying a 1997 student election.
The president believed a school-funded student newspaper had compromised the outcome by endorsing a
slate of candidates.
A Brooklyn federal court judge has accepted Dr. Springer's motion to pay $1 in nominal damages to each of
nine plaintiffs, all former CSI students. The payout, which amounts to 75 cents for each year of the lawsuit,
effectively ends the legal battle that has been waged in Brooklyn federal court since 1997.
In short-circuiting a potential damages trial, Dr. Springer made no admission of liability or wrongdoing. She
retired in August 2007 after 13 years at the Willowbrook school.
Ronald B. McGuire, the plaintiffs' Jersey City-based lawyer, said they are considering an appeal.
"We're certainly gratified to have won the case [on the First Amendment issue], but I'm concerned the
decision may give future defendants a way to avoid judgments on constitutional issues by simply paying
nominal damages," he said.
McGuire said his clients, who have gone on to become teachers, computer scientists and an author, had
sought symbolic monetary awards -- $500 in compensatory damages, $2 in punitive damages and $9 in
nominal damages. The claims for compensatory and punitive damages were previously dropped, court
papers said.
In sanctioning Dr. Springer's motion to enter the $9 judgment against herself, District Judge Nina Gershon
said it satisfied the plaintiffs' remaining claim and didn't require an accompanying opinion from her on the
issue. She also said the decision leaves intact the First Amendment ruling against Dr. Springer.
CSI did not immediately comment on the case.
In May 1997, CSI's Student Elections Review Committee (SERC) voided the student government elections
eventually won by a slate of candidates from the "Student Union" party.
Days earlier, the College Voice, one of the school's student newspapers, had endorsed the Student Union
party, while criticizing candidates on the opposing Students for Students (SFS) slate.
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