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Judge grants Palestinian Solidarity Committee standing to sue UT for free speech violations [1]

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Date: 2024-10-31

A federal judge in Austin has granted pro-Palestinian student groups at several Texas universities standing to pursue a sweeping lawsuit against their institutions' presidents and board members for alleged viewpoint discrimination and for First Amendment violations.

U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman found that the plaintiffs have "sufficiently pled injury" regarding university policies that comply with Gov. Greg Abbott's executive order in March limiting antisemitic speech and with university leaders' actions limiting pro-Palestinian speech.

"The Court finds that Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on their claim ... that the GA-44-compliant university policies impose impermissible viewpoint discrimination that chills speech in violation of the First Amendment," Pitman said in an order Monday, referring to Abbott's executive order charging public colleges to enforce free speech policies against pro-Palestinian student organizations and adopt a definition of antisemitism, which the judge said limits legal anti-Israel speech.

As part of the order, Pitman is allowing the Palestine Solidarity Committee's count against University of Texas President Jay Hartzell to proceed, which claims the university's cancellation of a pro-Palestinian protest on April 24 and the group's interim suspension afterward "was pretext for impermissible viewpoint discrimination and violated the first amendment."

More:UT suspends student for 'unauthorized' pro-Palestinian protest; student seeks to stop move

The UT student group was suspended after holding its April 24 protest against the Dean of Students' directive out of concern an encampment would be formed on campus as had happened at other schools across the nation. Hartzell called in Texas Department of Public Safety troopers, who along with UT police corralled the demonstration and ordered protesters to disperse. Fifty-seven protesters were arrested, and then 79 others were arrested at an April 29 demonstration at UT that included the brief installation of a makeshift encampment.

UT spokesperson Mike Rosen did not immediately respond to an American-Statesman request for comment. In response to a separate lawsuit against UT, Hartzell and former Provost Sharon Wood brought by a student over his arrest at the protest, a university statement shared by Rosen defended the school's decision to cancel the protest, arguing it has a right to pre-censor speech within time, place and manner restrictions if the university has sufficient reason to believe protesters will break rules or cause disruptions, and does not discriminate based on viewpoint.

Pitman, however, said the Palestinian Solidarity Committee "plead facts sufficient, if believed, to show President Hartzell suspended PSC-UT because of the group's expressed viewpoint." He said the suspension is a "sufficient ongoing injury, traceable to Defendant Hartzell," enough reason to not dismiss the suit, which could be remedied by enjoining the suspension.

In a news release Tuesday, the Council for Islamic American Relations, a civil rights and advocacy group that filed the lawsuit on behalf of the plaintiffs, called Pitman's order "a major win for anti-genocide protestors across the country," saying the court's ruling holds that "government rules generally forbidding students from criticizing Israel are unconstitutional."

All plaintiffs ― Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Houston and at UT-Dallas; the Palestine Solidarity Committee at UT; and the Democratic Socialists of America ― also sued Abbott specifically for his executive order, but Pitman dismissed that action, finding that Abbott is entitled to "sovereign immunity" in the case.

Pitman declined to issue an injunction against the governor's executive order or universities' policies, citing it as an "extraordinary remedy" and the request as broad.

However, the judge upheld the count against university presidents and boards of regents in their official capacities who enforced university policies to stop pro-Palestinian speech and adopted the executive order's definition of antisemitism in their policies, saying he expects policies that adopt the governor's order will chill free speech on campuses.

The judge dismissed the count in the suit against UT-San Antonio President Taylor Eighmy, as the plaintiff's claim that they were barred from chanting "from the river to the sea" was not found in the university's policies, and Pitman denied claims for compensatory and punitive damages, however declaratory and injunctive relief can still be pursued.

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[1] Url: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/courts/2024/10/31/pro-palestinian-student-groups-texas-can-sue-over-free-speech-concerns/75923572007/

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