BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana (ACLU) sued Indiana University on Friday, claiming that the university violated the First Amendment rights of three protest participants after implementing a one-year campus ban.
The three plaintiffs were Jasper Wirtshafter, a Bloomington resident; Benjamin Robinson, a tenured IU-Bloomington German Studies professor; and Madeleine Meldrum, an IU graduate student. Each was banned from campus for a year by the IU Police Department.
Shortly following the ACLU’s announcement, a stay was granted to Meldrum. Robinson received a stay earlier this week but Wirtshafter did not.
“There’s nothing more important to the ACLU than the ability to exercise First Amendment rights, no matter the protest. The First Amendment exists for all citizens … (it’s) the bedrock of our democracy,” said ACLU’s legal director Ken Falk. “This is an extremely undemocratic action by IU.”
Falk said the organization asked the court to find that the university couldn’t ban the freedom of expression for plaintiffs and to prevent IU from enforcing the ban along with potential damages. The suit specifically focuses on Dunn Meadow, where students have been gathering, which Falk said had “for 50 years been a forum of free speech.”
Meldrum said that collective action and advocacy were important to her and stated, “I haven’t been on campus since last Thursday. I see my friends and colleagues continue to use their voices knowing that, for some arbitrary reason, I’m not allowed to do that anymore.”
Falk didn’t rule out the possibility that others could be added to the suit and said it was hoped that IU would halt the practice. Over 50 protesters have been arrested at Indiana’s protests.
The complaint further details a rule change about temporary structures on Dunn Meadow enacted in private the night before demonstrations were slated to begin. Several participants have received “no trespass” orders specific to Dunn Meadow while other orders include the entire campus.
Students, professors, and others have demonstrated in Dunn Meadow, a university-designated public forum, demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and divestment in Israel. Tens of thousands have died — many of them civilians, children, and aid workers — in Palestine throughout Israel’s military response following a Hamas terrorist attack in October.
After receiving a stay on her ban, Meldrum indicated she would return to Dunn Meadow to continue protesting.
Read the entire Whitney Downard article for the Indiana Capital Chronicle, here.
