IU’s new expressive activity policy is the subject of an American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana lawsuit filed Thursday.
The ACLU of Indiana filed the suit in Southern Indiana District Court on behalf of 10 plaintiffs, including IU faculty and students, an IU staff member and a Bloomington resident.
The complaint alleges that the policy’s ban on expressive activity outside the hours of 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. is overly broad and violates the First Amendment. The lawsuit also claims the policy threatens “harsh punishments” for those who violate it. According to the policy, students found in violation of the policy could face suspension, and faculty could be terminated.
IU associate professor of Germanic studies Benjamin Robinson and graduate student Bryce Greene are among the plaintiffs.
On Tuesday, Robinson and Greene were referred to officials for potentially violating this part of the policy at a Sunday vigil. The vigil, which began at 11:30 p.m., was intentionally incompliant with the expressive activity policy.
“That sort of over broad writing of a policy with no expressed institutional interest to justify the burden put on First Amendment rights is, in our mind, in the minds of the plaintiffs, in the minds of the suit, is unconstitutional and probably ill-advised,” Robinson said.
Ken Falk, ACLU of Indiana legal director, criticized the new policy in a press release Thursday.
“IU has approved a new policy that prohibits all expressive activity if it takes place between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., even if the activity is not at all disruptive, such as standing silently, holding a sign, wearing a t-shirt with a communicative message, or discussing current events with friends,” Falk said. “The protections of the First Amendment do not end at 11:00 p.m., only to begin again at 6:00 a.m.”
This is not the first suit that the ACLU of Indiana has against the administration this year. The first suit, filed in May, challenged campus bans given to protesters arrested in April at the pro-Palestinian encampment in Dunn Meadow. Fifty-seven protesters were arrested in total on April 25 and 27. Most of the 57 protesters who were arrested received one-year bans from campus, most of which were stayed on appeal. It’s unclear if all, or just the majority, of these bans were repealed. The Monroe County Prosecutor’s Office also dropped all criminal trespass charges, as well as an additional battery charge against a protester who bit an officer.
Robinson, along with Bloomington community member Jasper Wirtshafter, are plaintiffs on both suits.
Another suit, filed by ACLU of Indiana on behalf of Purdue University-Fort Wayne and IU professors against Senate Enrolled Act 202 and both respective boards of trustees, was recently dismissed by a U.S. district court judge.
IU’s new expressive activity policy specifically prohibits camping and using chalk, among other things, which protesters used at the pro-Palestine encampment this spring. After the policy took effect Aug. 1, IU cleared the remaining structures in Dunn Meadow on Aug. 2 and put up a fence while the area undergoes repairs.
Mark Bode, IU executive director for media relations, stated that IU does not comment on litigation.
