Rosenberger costly decision for U. Va.

VIRGINIA — Over a year after the Supreme Court struck down the University of Virginia’s attempt to limit funds to a religious student newspaper, the school has recently disclosed the real price of their loss.In seeking to withhold $5,862 in funds to publish the Christian student newspaper Wide Awake, the university now must pay the plaintiff’s $309,516 court costs in addition to their own.In Rosenberger v. University of Virginia, the school argued that funding the paper would violate the First Amendment’s establishment clause. The school won in trial and appellate courts, but lost before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court’s decision reaffirmed strong First Amendment protections for the college media.