A group of student protesters and the American Civil Liberties Union are suing Ball State University, claiming its policies unfairly infringe on their First Amendment right to protest.
The lawsuits stem from a demonstration last November where about a dozen students marched to President Geoffrey Mearns’s office to demand the university divest its assets from companies with ties to Israel — a common demand from the pro-Palestine movement. Months later, the university punished several of the students involved.
The lawsuits, filed in the U.S. District Court of Southern Indiana, specifically target two policies: one that establishes a 50-foot protest-free zone around nearly every building on campus, and another that prohibits students from not complying with university officials’ orders. Both were cited in student disciplinary letters.
“All of the policies that they were determined to have violated are unconstitutional,” the complaint said. “(The students’) behavior was fully protected by the First Amendment.”
Ball State spokesperson Greg Fallon said the university does not comment on pending litigation.
The Ball State administration faced outrage and free speech concerns last fall when the university fired a staff member for a post critical of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The situation drew an active lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union.
ACLU argues policies are unconstitutional
In late January, the university reprimanded seven of the students for breaking school policy, including refusing to leave when asked, disorderly conduct and protesting within a campus building, according to disciplinary letters obtained by IndyStar.
One was suspended through May, having already been on probation. The other six were placed on conduct probation and were required to complete ten hours of community service and write a 1,500-word reflection paper, according to the disciplinary letters.
Last month, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression penned an open letter, with similar concerns to the ACLU’s. It said the university’s “vague and overly broad” polices cast too wide a net for protest speech and don’t hold up under the First Amendment.
Ball State, as a public university and government entity, can establish reasonable time, place and manner restrictions on expressive activity. However, it cannot install policies that overly restrict the First Amendment rights of its students and the larger community.
The ACLU complaint argues the policies are not reasonable nor narrowly tailored enough to warrant any legitimate campus interest, such as safety.
In its complaint, the ACLU argues that the 50-foot boundary leaves only a handful of small pockets where expressive activity is permitted. There is no outlined process to obtain an exemption, the complaint said, and it doesn’t define criteria for when a group would be subject to the policy.
It also said the student code provision regarding a failure to comply with university officials “vests complete and unbridled authority in university officials to issue any directive they desire to any study they desire… and subjects students to discipline if they do not abide.”
The lawsuits seek an injunction prohibiting the 50-foot and the compliance policies. It also asks for damages and expungement of the students’ disciplinary records.
The USA TODAY Network – Indiana’s coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners.
Have a story to tell? Reach Cate Charron by email at ccharron@indystar.com, on X at @CateCharron or Signal at @cate.charron.28.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: ACLU sues Ball State over punishment of student protesters
Reporting by Cate Charron, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
