ACLU of Indiana appeals dismissal of lawsuit over state’s ‘intellectual diversity’ law

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — After a judge dismissed their lawsuit against the state of Indiana over the “intellectual diversity” law, the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed an appeal on Monday to get the lawsuit back in the courtroom.

Senate Enrolled Act 202, which was approved by Indiana legislators in March of 2024, requires professors at state universities to “foster a culture of free inquiry, free expression, and intellectual diversity” and “expose students to scholarly works from a variety of political or ideological frameworks.”

At the time the law was being considered in the Statehouse, Republican lawmakers said it was needed to protect conservative viewpoints, which they say were being unfairly targeted in higher education classrooms. To enforce the “intellectual diversity” law, SEA 202 mandates each university’s board of trustees to create a way for students or staff to report violations.

The ACLU of Indiana, representing a group of tenured faculty at Indiana University and Purdue University, says the law threatens professors with disciplinary action based on its vague terms on what counts as “a variety of political or ideological frameworks.”

Plaintiffs say SEA 202 violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, creating a chilling effect on what is taught in classrooms. “… the plaintiffs believe they could be compelled to speak or prohibited from speaking in violation of their First Amendment rights or risk adverse employment actions, through and including termination,” the lawsuit says.

One of the plaintiffs, an associate professor of history at Purdue University who teaches about the legacy of slavery in the U.S., says he shouldn’t be required to teach an opposing prospective once prevalent in academics which claims “that slavery ultimately benefitted African-American people,” the lawsuit says.

A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in July on grounds of jurisdiction, saying it was too early for any of the plaintiffs to have been harmed by SEA 202. Self-censorship, the judge found, does not count as harmful damages caused by the law; since no school has yet to enforce SEA 202 with disciplinary actions against the plaintiffs, the case should be dismissed. “At the time this lawsuit was filed on September 13, 2024, those policies were nothing more than preliminary and interim measures, with policymaking and implementation still ongoing,” court documents of the July 23 dismissal say.

Monday, the ACLU appealed of the judge’s decision to agree with the State of Indiana in asking for the case to be dismissed. Along with bringing the case back to the courts, the ACLU is asking for a preliminary injunction against the law.

Related coverage

• Judge dismisses professor-led ‘intellectual diversity’ lawsuit, calls claims ‘premature’
• Indiana Attorney General files to dismiss challenge to state’s ‘intellectual diversity’ law

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