Free speech organizations urge University of Maryland to lift unconstitutional ‘Expressive Event’ ban

BALTIMORE, Sept. 26 2024 —The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Maryland, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, and the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University filed an amicus brief last night in support of University of Maryland Students for Justice in Palestine's lawsuit, which challenges the university’s ban on all student-led expressive events scheduled for Oct. 7. The free speech organizations argue that the university's ban is unconstitutional because the restriction singles out speech based on its message and fails to meet the high bar therefore required by the First Amendment to justify it.

“Imposing a blanket ban on student speech because of its message — and more precisely, because people find the students’ message controversial or provocative — completely undercuts the University of Maryland’s function as a place of learning, dialogue, and the robust exchange of ideas, and is a clear violation of students’ First Amendment rights,” said Nick Taichi Steiner at ACLU of Maryland. “The university should lift this ban and allow UMD Students for Justice in Palestine to hold their vigil.” 

The Council for American-Islamic Relations and Palestine Legal represent the University of Maryland Students for Justice in Palestine, which initially received university permission to host a vigil on the anniversary of Oct. 7 to mourn lives lost in Gaza over the past year. However, after facing complaints about the event and the sponsor, the University of Maryland revoked its permission. The university subsequently instituted a blanket ban on all student-led “expressive events” for Oct. 7, and declared that the university system would allow only “university-sponsored events that promote reflection.”

“While we appreciate the University of Maryland’s desire to acknowledge the pain this day may cause students, censorship is not the appropriate response,” said Alex Abdo, litigation director at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. “Instead of silencing students and policing their grief, the university should uphold its commitment to fostering an environment where all students can freely express their views, even on the most challenging days."

The amicus explains that this ban is a clear effort to silence speech about Israel and Palestine — and SJP’s message in particular — because the university limited it to a uniquely salient day, and was only declared after others voiced their displeasure with the vigil. The amicus also explains that, even if the ban were not focused on burdening particular messages, it would still be unreasonable, both because it would undercut the public university's core function of encouraging free debate and open dialogue, and because it would be impossible to discern what kinds of events are allowed on UMD campuses that day and what are not. 

“The University of Maryland can’t hit pause on the First Amendment. Not on October 7th, or ever,” said Alex Morey, FIRE’s vice president of Campus Advocacy. “FIRE is gratified to stand with the free expression advocates at the ACLU and the Knight First Amendment Institute, defending all UMD students’ right to speak out.”

CONTACT: Allegra Harpootlian, ACLU, aharpootlian@aclu.org;

Adriana Lamirande, Knight First Amendment Institute, adriana.lamirande@knightcolumbia.org

 Alex Griswold, FIRE, media@thefire.org

Nehemiah Bester, ACLU-MD, nbester@aclu-md.org