Judge says pro-Palestinian student groups can sue UT Austin, other university leaders

A federal judge in Austin ruled this week that pro-Palestinian student groups have the right to sue high-ranking officials at several Texas public universities for allegedly violating their First Amendment rights. However, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman said the groups could not sue Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who earlier this year ordered universities to change their free speech policies.

Council on American-Islamic Relations first filed the lawsuit in May against Abbott, university leaders and the Board of Regents for the University of Texas system, as well as the University of Houston system. Pitman said this week that university boards cannot be sued as a whole, but it is OK to take action against individual board members.

The Muslim Civil Rights Group represents student groups such as the Palestine Solidarity Committee at UT Austin, as well as Students for Justice in Palestine at UT Dallas and the University of Houston. Law enforcement they arrested students on all three campuses during the spring 2024 semester while protesting Israel’s war on Gaza.

Abbott ordered universities to crack down on anti-Semitism

Gadeir Abbas, a senior litigation attorney for CAIR, said public universities in Texas cracked down on pro-Palestinian protests in response to a executive order Abbott issued in March.

The Republican governor told public colleges and universities to update their free speech policies include a definition of anti-Semitism and create penalties for “anti-Semitic rhetoric.”

Abbott’s order also highlighted the student groups that are plaintiffs in the lawsuit. He ordered universities to ensure that the new free speech policies “are enforced on campuses and that groups such as the Palestine Solidarity Committee and Students for Justice in Palestine are disciplined for violating these policies.”

Abbas said Abbott’s order incorrectly conflated anti-Semitism and criticism of Israel.

“It’s very clear here that Governor Abbott has directed his subordinates to disregard the First Amendment, to suppress pro-Palestinian speech, and the court is about to reject it,” he said.

U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman wrote in his order that the plaintiffs will likely be able to show that university policies developed to comply with Abbott’s order “impose impermissible viewpoint discrimination that freezes speech in violation of the First Amendment.”

Pitman dismissed Abbott as a defendant in the case because of “sovereign immunity,” which protect states from lawsuits.

However, Pitman said the lawsuit could continue against several university presidents, including UT Austin President Jay Hartzell and University of Houston President Renu Khator, because of their role in ensuring Abbott’s order is implemented at their institutions.

Pitman rejected the student groups’ request to block Abbott’s executive order or university policies developed to comply with it while the case continues.

Judge weighs in on alleged free speech violations at UT Austin

Part of the lawsuit Pitman is allowing to move forward involves UT Austin’s Palestine Solidarity Committee, which claims the university violated the First Amendment by barring the group from protesting last April and thereafter placing him on a provisional suspension.

UT officials told the Palestine Solidarity Committee the night before and the morning of an April 24 protest that the group could not hold a demonstration.

“The group leading this protest has stated that they will violate institutional rules. Our rules matter and will be enforced. Our university will not be occupied,” President Hartzell wrote in an April 24 email to the UT community.

Law enforcement officials, whom Hartzell called to account, ended up arresting more than 130 people during demonstrations on April 24 and 29.

Judge Pitman said in the order that the Palestine Solidarity Committee had “pleaded sufficient facts, if considered, to show that President Hartzell suspended PSC-UT because of the viewpoint expressed by the group.”

While UT Austin spokesman Mike Rosen said the university’s response to the judge’s ruling will be outlined in a future court filing, he told KUT News Monday that the university does not limit viewpoint-based demonstrations. Rather, if the university believes an event will violate university rules or disrupt the campus, “we may legally decide that the activity cannot proceed as planned.”

Rosen shared this statement regarding another case Pitman is presiding over. UT Austin suspended a student last week for violating a university rule while participating in the April 24 pro-Palestinian protest. Ammer Qaddumi, member of the Palestine Solidarity Committee, Pitman asked to block the university from enforcing his suspension, but Pitman denied Qaddumi’s request for a temporary restraining order.