This story has been updated.
The ACLU of Indiana filed its third lawsuit against IU since the spring, this time for the university’s new “expressive activity” policy.
Ken Falk, the organization’s legal director, said Thursday the policy, which prohibits expressive activity between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., is “overly broad and violates the First Amendment.”
“This is written so broadly that if if any one of us was to wear a t-shirt supporting a cause at 11:15pm while walking through any piece of property on Indiana University, we would be violating the policy,” he said.
The ACLU is only challenging the permitted hours part of the policy at this point, which also includes limits on when signs can be posted and how close to the entrance of a building expressive activity is allowed. Falk added that the ACLU has concerns about other parts of the policy, however, and is exploring some of the other provisions.
IU has maintained it has the right to regulate the time, place and manner of free expression on campus. The Supreme Court has upheld the right of governmental entities such as schools to impose some content-neutral restrictions.
The university also affirmed its commitment to free speech after trustees passed the new policy. Spokesperson Mark Bode said IU doesn't comment on ongoing litigation.
Plaintiffs in the case include IU professors and students who were involved in a pro-Gaza encampment in Dunn Meadow this spring. Among them are doctoral student Bryce Greene and professor Ben Robinson, both of whom face possible sanctions over a “free speech vigil” they held after 11 p.m. last weekend.
The ACLU is requesting a preliminary injunction to stop the policy from going into effect, which it hopes to make permanent. If the court grants its request, that would also prevent retroactive punishment for Greene and Robinson.
The organization has sued IU two other times this year, first for no trespass orders it issued to protesters and later to block enforcement of Indiana’s new laws governing tenure and classroom instruction.
The no-trespass case is ongoing in federal court. A federal judge dismissed the challenge against the Indiana law on tenure and classroom instruction.
