Speech Disrupters

A New Jersey Municipal Court judge last week fined three Princeton University undergraduates $25 each for disrupting a speech by Boston city councilwoman Louise Day Hicks at Princeton on November 19.

In addition, Princeton placed the three students, Norman L. Buchanan '76, Lawrence Hamm '78, and Gregory S. King '77, on disciplinary probation for the remainder of the 1975-76 academic year.

Daniel O'Meara, a graduate student who brought the charges against the three, said that he thought Judge Philip S. Carchman's decision to fine the three was "appropriate." He said 90 per cent of those present disagreed with the sentiments of Hick's speech, but that the disruption was uncalled for.

Buchanan, Hamm, and King, when reached yesterday, said that they pleaded "guilty with an explanation" to Carchman. All three said there had been no premeditated plan to disrupt Hick's speech, but that her remarks made them "emotionally distraught."

King said that he was "glad it's over," and that he "had not expected leniency" from the court. The three originally faced up to a $500 fine and one year in jail.