The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Indiana announced Friday it is suing Indiana University for violating the First Amendment rights of three demonstrators who were arrested and given no-trespass orders on April 25 at the pro-Palestinian encampment in Dunn Meadow.
The lawsuit was filed with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana and involves three plaintiffs: Ben Robinson, a professor of Germanic Studies at IU, Madeline Meldrum, a graduate student, and Jasper Wirtshafter, a Bloomington resident and membership coordinator for Bloomington Cooperative Living. The listed defendants are the IU Board of Trustees and IU President Pamela Whitten.
All three plaintiffs were detained by Indiana State Police troopers on April 25 and given one-year bans from Dunn Meadow. The arrests, which occurred on the first day of an ongoing pro-Palestinian encampment on Dunn Meadow, came after IU changed its policy on the use of “structures” like tents and signs in outdoor spaces on the eve of the protest – a move that critics have argued was targeted and led to police escalation.
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Both Robinson and Meldrum’s bans have been temporarily stayed by IU as they begin the appeals process.
Lawsuit alleges unlawful ‘prior restraint’ against protesters
The ACLU lawsuit alleges that IU violated the plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights by imposing one-year no-trespass bans, thus barring them from returning to Dunn Meadow to participate in the protest. Indiana University is a public entity and Dunn Meadow is regarded as a “public forum,” meaning restrictions on the plaintiffs’ access could violate their constitutional rights.