UPDATE AUGUST 14, 2024: A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) can’t allow Jewish students to be barred from classes or campus. The ruling follows a lawsuit filed by three Jewish students claiming UCLA enabled pro-Palestinian protesters to block them from parts of campus due to their faith.
In his preliminary injunction, U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi said, “Jewish students were excluded from portions of the UCLA campus because they refused to denounce their faith. This fact is so unimaginable and so abhorrent to our constitutional guarantee of religious freedom,” reports NBC News and the Los Angeles Times. “UCLA does not dispute this. Instead, UCLA claims that it has no responsibility to protect the religious freedom of its Jewish students because the exclusion was engineered by third-party protesters. But under constitutional principles, UCLA may not allow services to some students when UCLA knows that other students are excluded on religious grounds, regardless of who engineered the exclusion.”
The school has until Thursday to instruct campus police, security and student affairs that “they are not to aid or participate in any obstruction of access for Jewish students to ordinarily available programs, activities, and campus areas.”
UCLA said it has changed its practices since the pro-Palestinian encampments were erected this spring. A spokesperson said the ruling would “improperly hamstring” the school’s ability to respond to incidents on campus. UCLA said it would appeal the injunction.
ORIGINAL JULY 30, 2024 ARTICLE:
LOS ANGELES — A federal judge ordered UCLA and Jewish students who sued the school to come up with an agreed-upon plan that would give Jewish students equal access to campus during Israel-Palestine protests.
The directive, given by U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi during a hearing Monday afternoon, was issued after three Jewish students filed a lawsuit against UCLA last month alleging an April pro-Palestinian encampment violated their civil rights by illegally blocking them and other Jewish students from parts of campus, LA Times reports.
“Meet and confer to see if you can come up with some agreeable stipulated injunction or some other court order that would give both UCLA the flexibility it needs … but also provide Jewish students on campus some reassurance that their free exercise rights are not going to play second fiddle to anything else,” Scarsi said.
Scarsi ordered the plaintiffs and the university to get back to him by next week with a proposal that could be issued in time for the beginning of the UCLA School of Law’s fall semester in August, according to Courthouse News.
RELATED: Lawsuit: UCLA Didn’t Protect Jewish Students During Pro-Palestine Protests
This marks the first federal court intervention over UCLA’s encampments. The school received significant criticism for its response to violence that broke out after a group of counter-protesters tried to tear down a pro-Palestine encampment. The counter-protesters set off fireworks and allegedly deployed pepper spray or bear repellent. In response to the unrest, law enforcement began dismantling the pro-Palestine demonstrators’ encampment. Hundreds were arrested and at least 15 people were hurt.
On June 10, more clashes broke out between pro-Palestine protesters and police officers, leading to 25 arrests. UCLA Police said the group set up three encampments, dyed a foundation red, spray-painted brick walkways, tampered with fire safety equipment, damaged patio furniture, vandalized vehicles, and stripped wire from electrical fixtures. Since then, the University of California (UC) Regents and campus leaders have said they will no longer tolerate encampments.
Lawsuit: UCLA Perpetuated Encampment ‘Jew Exclusion Zone’
In the lawsuit, which names the UC Regents and UC President Michael V. Drake, the students said the university helped enforce a “Jew Exclusion Zone” by installing bike rack barriers around the encampment and hiring security guards that allowed pro-Palestinian protesters to cross into the encampment but blocked Jewish students. UCLA lawyers said student protesters were preventing access, not the university. The lawyers also said UCLA blocked off the encampment to keep it from growing.
The Jewish students, who are represented by lawyers from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, asked Scarsi to issue an injunction that would prevent UCLA from applying “policies in a way that would give Jewish students less than full and equal access,” noting UCLA is legally required to ensure access of all students to campus.
RELATED: NYU Settles Lawsuit Over Antisemitism Allegations
Following the protests, Drake was directed to work with other UC leaders to create a systemwide plan on how to handle violations of rules around free speech activities, according to the LA Times. Drake must submit the plan by Oct. 1. Until then, state lawmakers are withholding $25 million in state funding.
Since April, UCLA’s lawyers say the school has made improvements, including shutting down multiple encampments the same day they were erected and developing a strict intolerance for protests that violate university rules. It has also created a new campus safety office and hired a new police chief.
“UCLA is committed to maintaining a safe and inclusive campus, holding those who engaged in violence accountable, and combating antisemitism in all forms,” Mary Osako, UCLA vice chancellor of strategic communications, said in a statement. “We have applied lessons learned from this spring’s protests and continue to work to foster a campus culture where everyone feels welcome and free from intimidation, discrimination and harassment.”
