BOISE, Idaho — The trial began Wednesday for Big City Coffee – who filed a $10 million lawsuit against two administrators at Boise State University (BSU) in October 2021.
Over 90 people showed up for jury duty – and 12 were selected to serve.
Big City Coffee is claiming BSU administrators violated their First, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Since 2016, Big City Coffee has had a “thin blue line” emblem on their store window at their location in downtown Boise.
When Big City Coffee opened a shop on Boise State’s campus in May 2020, a group of students that were a part of the Inclusive Excellence Student Council protested.
They said BSU was not supporting inclusivity on campus by allowing a coffee shop that supports law enforcement to operate on campus – and they say they viewed the thin blue line emblem as a direct response to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Big City Coffee closed on campus one month after opening and claimed BSU administrators "forced" them off campus and violated their freedom of speech and didn’t give them equal protection under the law.
The trial is expected to be nine days over the course of three weeks. The court will meet Wednesday, Thursday and Fridays from 9-3 p.m.
The judge will hear opening statements on Thursday morning.