⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The Fifth Circuit hears Fellowship of Christian University Students versus Eltife. Students and student groups at the University of Texas at Austin and Dallas challenged restrictions required by Texas Senate Bill 2972. The law directs public universities to prohibit noncommercial expressive activities between ten at night and eight in the morning. It also requires restrictions on invited speakers, amplified sound, and drums during the final two weeks of a semester or term. The plaintiffs said these rules threatened late-night religious discussions, student newspaper work, and music rehearsals and performances. They sued before facing punishment, seeking to protect those activities. In October 2025, a federal district judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the four challenged restrictions. That is temporary relief while the case proceeds, not a final judgment on its merits. The university officials now appeal. Daniel Ortner, of the Texas Attorney General's office, will ask the court to vacate the injunction, arguing that the students challenged the wrong legal instrument and sued the wrong officials. A doctrine called Ex parte Young allows suits seeking to stop ongoing violations of federal law by state officials who have a sufficient connection to enforcing the challenged measure. The court will examine that connection here, and whether the injunction's wording actually reaches the campus policies implementing the statute.

Fellowship of Christian v. Eltife (No. 25-50914) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, argued October 6, 2026.