Federal judge says UCLA can't allow protesters to block Jewish students from accessing campus
A federal judge said that the University of California, Los Angeles cannot allow protesters to block Jewish students from accessing campus.
A federal judge ruled that the University of California, Los Angeles cannot allow protesters to block Jewish students from accessing campus.
U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi, appointed by former President Donald Trump, issued the scathing injunction on Tuesday, writing that UCLA didn’t do nearly enough to protect Jewish students during anti-Israel protests that took place in late spring.
Scarsi wrote that the anti-Israel protesters ”established checkpoints and required passersby to wear a specific wristband to cross them” with ”news reporting indicates that the encampment’s entrances were guarded by protesters, and people who supported the existence of the state of Israel were kept out of the encampment.”
The judge also cited evidence that the encampment protesters ”’directly interfered with instruction by blocking students’ pathways to classrooms.’”
Scarsi said that UCLA’s actions were blatantly unconstitutional in allowing Jewish students to be blocked from entering certain portions of campus.
”In the year 2024, in the United States of America, in the State of California, in the City of Los Angeles, Jewish students were excluded from portions of the UCLA campus because they refused to denounce their faith,” Scarsi wrote. ”This fact is so unimaginable and so abhorrent to our constitutional guarantee of religious freedom that it bears repeating, Jewish students were excluded from portions of the UCLA campus because they refused to denounce their faith.”
”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,” he added.
Mary Osako, UCLA’s vice chancellor for strategic communications, strongly disagreed with the ruling in a statement to the New York Times.
“U.C.L.A. is committed to fostering a campus culture where everyone feels welcome and free from intimidation, discrimination and harassment,” Osako said. “The district court’s ruling is improper and would hamstring our ability to respond to events on the ground.”
Campus Reform has reported that the initial lawsuit was filed on June 5 by three Jewish UCLA students. They alleged that the university chose not to shut down the anti-Jewish, pro-Palestine encampment at the school.
“Shame on UCLA for letting antisemitic thugs terrorize Jews on campus,” said Mark Rienzi, president of Becket Law and an attorney for the students. “Today’s ruling says that UCLA’s policy of helping antisemitic activists target Jews is not just morally wrong but a gross constitutional violation. UCLA should stop fighting the Constitution and start protecting Jews on campus.”
A student at UCLA celebrated the ruling and described the anti-Jewish conduct that was permitted during the spring semester as “shameful.”
“No student should ever have to fear being blocked from their campus because they are Jewish,” said Yitzchok Frankel, a law student at UCLA. “I am grateful that the court has ordered UCLA to put a stop to this shameful anti-Jewish conduct.”
The Daily Wire reported that the ruling will be implemented on Aug. 15, and that UCLA will likely appeal the decision.
Campus Reform has contacted the University of California, Los Angeles for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
