US civil liberties union sues University of Michigan for banning student pro-Palestine protesters News
Johnragla, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
US civil liberties union sues University of Michigan for banning student pro-Palestine protesters

The ACLU filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan against the University of Michigan (UM) on Monday claiming that the university’s trespass ban on students’ peaceful pro-Palestine protests on campus violated their right to free speech.

UM issued trespass warnings against several students involved in the lawsuit for on-campus “disruptions”. Trespass warnings effectively forbid students from being present on UM campuses for a year, except for classes and medical purposes, under threat of criminal prosecution for trespass. The lawsuit argues that UM’s policy of prohibiting “disruptions” on campus is vague, and has been used to target free speech that the university dislikes. This is claimed to violate the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which protects freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.

In the introductory statement filed with the suit, the ACLU claimed that:

Despite a long history of protest activity regarding countless issues at the University of Michigan, which has sometimes included acts of civil disobedience, it appears that no other group of protestors have been subjected to similarly broad trespass bans for the same or similar alleged activity.

The university is currently facing another lawsuit filed in December for allegedly selectively targeting pro-Palestinian protestors with disciplinary actions.

The trespass bans were issued without any hearing that would allow students to argue their case. While students can challenge a trespass ban after it is issued, UM policy allows the university to decline objection requests. Additionally, if the university allows a hearing to take place, students are not allowed to question the basis of the ban, and university authorities have no obligation to provide evidence or explanation. The lawsuit claims that the biased nature of this procedure is “designed to encourage the recipient to incriminate themselves”.

Along with the lawsuit, the ACLU filed an application for a preliminary injunction to revoke UM’s ban on student protesters from campus during the trial and to prevent the university from banning students in the future without due process.

UM’s anti-disruption policy was adopted on July 1, 2024, without prior notice, imposing a blanket ban on disruptive activities on university property.

Protests against Israel’s war in Gaza have been widespread in universities across the US and the world. Many of the protests at US campuses, including Columbia, UCLA, and MIT, have been met with severe responses from law enforcement and university authorities.