By Jaelyn Miller, Emancipate NC Attorney and Community Organizer
In March 2025, Emancipate NC, alongside the ACLU of North Carolina and Muslim Advocates, filed a lawsuit against UNC Chapel Hill challenging the university’s treatment of protesters involved in the campus encampment for Palestinian liberation. The lawsuit argued that UNC punished protesters because of their viewpoints, in violation of the First Amendment.
After law enforcement violently cleared the encampment—despite no observed criminal conduct—the university issued indefinite trespass bans preventing many protesters from accessing any UNC property. Emancipate NC challenged these bans as unconstitutional and viewpoint-discriminatory.
On Wednesday, February 4, a federal judge agreed, ruling that the bans are likely unconstitutional and ordering UNC Chapel Hill to stop enforcing them while the case continues. After nearly two years of disruption to protesters’ personal and professional lives, this decision marks a significant step toward restoring their First Amendment rights.
This ruling represents an important victory for free speech at a time when First Amendment protections are under increasing threat nationwide.