BY LEE OLESON
NEW BRUNSWICK, New Jersey -After a five-month fight for the right to sell political literature in front of the Rutgers University Student Center here, supporters of free speech scored a victory February 11 when university officials dropped charges of "soliciting without a permit" against Bob Miller. Miller, a member of the United Auto Workers union local at the nearby Ford assembly plant in Edison, had been campaigning for the Socialist Workers Party national and statewide candidates last September when Rutgers police shut down the campaign table and issued a summons.

Immediately after the charges were dismissed, Miller and his supporters returned to the student center, set up a literature table, and sold political books and the Militant for four hours without harassment from police or university authorities. Attorney William Volonte, who represented Miller on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, stayed by the literature table for the first two hours. Another worker from the auto plant, Bud Haithcoathe, also joined the sales team for an hour.

Volonte argued that written material should be exempt from requirements for vending permits under First Amendment guarantees of free speech.

Widespread opposition to the university's assault on democratic rights was reflected in press reports on the case in the student Daily Targum; two local dailies, the Home News & Tribune and the Courier-News; the New York Times; and the Newark Star-Ledger. The February 11 Daily Targum ran an article reporting the university's decision to drop the charges. The next day the student paper carried a second article on the socialists' return to the campus, with a photo of the literature table outside the center. (See below.)

Many people stopped at the table to congratulate the campaigners on their victory. Students and others bought nine Militants over the course of the day, along with a copy of the Communist Manifesto, two pamphlets on the Cuban revolution, and the book Cosmetics, Fashions, and the Exploitation of Women.

"The reaction of students who spoke to me at the literature table was the same as the people on my line when I went back to work the next day," Miller said, "thumbs up, support for the right to distribute literature, and some surprise and anger that the university had me arrested for campaigning. This victory for democratic rights will make it more difficult for government entities to restrict the space for the exchange of ideas on public streets." To get an introductory 12-week subscription to the Militant in the U.S., send $10 US to: The Militant, 410 West Street, New York, NY 10014. For sub  
 
 
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