Lawsuit challenges Indiana University’s ‘bias incidents’ policy – ​​Inside INdiana Business

A free speech group has filed a lawsuit against Indiana University President Pamela Whitten, the IU Board of Trustees and several administrative employees on the university’s Bloomington and Indianapolis campuses.

Speech First Inc. claims that IU’s bias incident policy aims to “prevent, suppress, and punish unwelcome and controversial speech,” particularly among students with conservative views.

IU has a bias incident reporting policy that allows anyone to submit a report to a team of “trained university officials” who will review and respond to the report.

The university’s website defines an incident of bias as: “Any conduct, speech, or expression motivated in whole or in part by bias or prejudice and intended to intimidate, humiliate, ridicule, degrade, exclude, or threaten individuals or groups based on the actual or perceived identity of those individuals or groups.”

According to IU, anyone who experiences, observes or is aware of an incident of bias can file a report.

“This policy is so broad that anything students find offensive can be reported,” Speech First said in a press release. “This could include something as simple as asking why the Biden administration added
‘Gender identity’ as a protected class under Title IX. Or the statement that uncontrolled illegal immigration
lead to an increase in crime.”

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, alleges that the university’s policies violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

Click here to view the full complaint.

“Indiana University and its officials have enacted a sweeping policy whose sole purpose is to prevent or otherwise deter students from expressing unwelcome views on current political and social issues,” the lawsuit states.

In a statement to Inside Indiana Business, IU spokesman Mark Bode said the university does not comment on pending litigation.

Speech First describes itself as a national membership organization of students, alumni and other engaged citizens “dedicated to upholding civil liberties guaranteed by law, including the freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution.”

In the lawsuit, Speech First names five unnamed IU students who want to have open debates with their classmates on issues such as abortion, gender identity, illegal immigration and the Gaza war, but fear being sued for bias.

“The bias incident policy provides no guidance to students about what speech is and is not permitted. It also allows for arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement,” the lawsuit states.

The IU website states that the Bias Response Team cannot take disciplinary action related to reports submitted, but Speech First states that the reports can be “forwarded for the initiation of formal disciplinary proceedings.”

Speech First is seeking a temporary and ultimately permanent injunction preventing IU from enforcing its policies on incidents of bias, including “investigating, recording, threatening, expelling, or punishing (formally or informally) students for incidents of bias.”

In addition to Whitten and the IU Board of Trustees, defendants in the lawsuit are Lamar Hylton, vice provost for student life at IU Bloomington; Kathy Adams, assistant vice provost for student life and dean of students at IU Bloomington; Cedric Harris, assistant dean for student support and anti-bias education at IU Bloomington; Jason Spratt, assistant vice chancellor and dean of students at IU Indianapolis; Heather Brake, assistant dean of students for student conduct and advocacy at IU Indianapolis; and Katherine Betts, assistant vice chancellor for diversity, equity and inclusion at IU Indianapolis.

The lawsuit is the second filed against Indiana University in less than a month. The ACLU of Indiana filed suit in early May on behalf of three people who were banned from the Bloomington campus for protesting against the war in Gaza, citing a violation of their First Amendment rights.

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