On September 25, 2024, the Knight Institute, the ACLU, the ACLU of Maryland, and FIRE filed an amicus brief in University of Maryland Students for Justice in Palestine v. University of Maryland, a suit challenging the University of Maryland’s prohibition on student-led expressive events on October 7, 2024, the one-year anniversary of the attacks on Israel. The university issued the blanket ban after revoking approval for an interfaith vigil planned by one of its student groups, Students for Justice in Palestine (“SJP”). 

The amicus brief argues that the ban violates the First Amendment because it amounts to an unconstitutional content-based restriction on speech. As the university’s president acknowledged, the university imposed the extraordinarily broad ban to appease individuals who objected to SJP’s anticipated message. The brief also argues that the ban is unconstitutional because it has no reasonable relation to the university’s function as a place of learning, and because it is too vague to be enforced predictably.

Status: Complaint and motion for preliminary injunctive relief filed on September 17, 2024. Opposition due on September 26. Hearing set for September 30.

Case Information: University of Maryland Students for Justice in Palestine v. Board of Regents of the University System of Maryland et al., No. 8:24-cv-02683-PJM (D.Md.)