Dames, et al v. Roberts, et al

In spring 2024, UNC students and other members of the community established an encampment to express their view that a genocide is being perpetrated against Palestinians in Gaza. Law enforcement forcibly cleared the encampment and violently arrested the protesters. Several of these individuals were immediately issued indefinite bans from campus with no hearing.

On March 11, 2025, the ACLU of NC, with partners Emancipate NC and Muslim Advocates, filed a lawsuit alleging that these actions violate the rights to free speech, due process, and the right to be free from excessive force by law enforcement.

UPDATE: On April 24, 2025, ACLU-NC filed a motion for and brief in support of a preliminary injunction, asking the Court to order UNC to lift the lifetime campus bans imposed on the plaintiffs while the case moves through the courts.

UPDATE: On February 4, 2026, a federal judge ruled granted the ACLU-NC's motion for a preliminary injunction, meaning the protestors may now return to campus. The judge ruled that the bans likely violated the First Amendment. The opinion further explains that the bans are unreasonable due to their indefinite nature, the lack of standards governing whether the bans can be lifted, and the limited evidence against the Plaintiffs.