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The Indiana Constitution is even more protective of free speech than the federal Constitution, allowing tort cases regarding interference with free speech in public spaces. And, the Indiana Constitution distinguishes between public, limited public, and designated public spaces as does the federal Constitution. Fortunately, for creating a policy, a federal court has already established two types of spaces: public and limited public. In the IUPUI system, public spaces have already been designated as places that are necessarily and public, like sidewalks, streets, and similar common park-like areas. A policy for safe spaces would need to decide what to do with the rest of the spaces. Non-public spaces would be those that the government has not opened for members of the public, like math class during class or a concert hall during a concert.

At IUPUI, parks, sidewalks, streets, and other common spaces would be considered public, but all other areas could be regulated in a reasonable way. Finally, students as well as third parties who are not university students, staff or faculty apparently may use the open or public fora areas, but may be subject to time, place and manner permitting restrictions. Outsiders to the college may be barred entirely from free speech/expressive use of the limited public spaces. In short, when removing the public spaces, the rest of an IUPUI campus is apparently subject only to reasonableness scrutiny of its free speech restrictions and is either a limited or nonpublic space.

No matter what happens on IUPUI campuses, it is nearly impossible to prohibit journalists from any outdoor event, meeting, or protect. The difficulty comes with the fact that the term “journalist” has a rather loose definition with the advent of blogging. But, in a private meeting in a limited public space like a classroom, journalists could be blocked from entering. Considering that colleges can limit what happens in the nonpublic spaces, it makes sense that journalists cannot enter these spaces as freely as they can in open spaces. For example, Republicans are not allowed to enter a meeting where Democrats are planning election strategies for campus events. So, journalists cannot enter those spaces, either.

Another consideration for the policy is how politically protected speech in politically protected areas can be moved to a restricted area. But this process does not apply to small protests that happen quickly. Of course, colleges must have non-discrimination policies, but they also should avoid creating policies that allow “all comers” to join groups - especially regarding groups like fraternities, sororities, and glee clubs.