ACLU sues Indiana University over campus bans following arrests of protesters

By Katy Szpak, WFIU/WTIU

The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana is suing Indiana University in response to last week’s arrests during anti-war protests on the Bloomington campus.

At least 56 people who were arrested received a trespass warning banning them from the university.

The ACLU of Indiana is representing three of those who were arrested, although it says it could add more in the future.

READ: Wirtshafter et al v. Indiana University

Ken Falk, the Indiana ACLU’s legal director, said the university’s no trespass orders are an example of prior restraint and are illegal.

“The government cannot say today that you cannot engage in First Amendment activities in the future because of some past behaviors," Falk said. "That's exactly what has occurred here.”

The three plaintiffs are Bloomington resident Jasper Wirtshafter, tenured professor Ben Robinson, and first-year graduate student Madeleine Meldrum.

Both Robinson and Meldrum’s bans were suspended while they try to get the ban lifted by the university. Wirtshafter’s appeal is pending but the university denied his suspension.

Meldrum said the appeals process was very difficult.

“Despite me regularly emailing and calling and trying to get the appeal going,” she said, “it wasn't until this morning, after the press release that we were suing IU, that they finally gave me a temporary stay on my ban and said that I was allowed back on campus.”

The protests – like many of those on university campuses across the country – are calling for an end to the war in Gaza and divestment from Israel.

"If we are passive and don't use our rights, then those rights are not serving the purpose that they were designed to serve," Robinson said.

IU spokesperson Mark Bode said the university is unable to comment on any pending litigation.