Judge again bars media from publishing on expelled student or his lawsuit

An U.S. district judge in Asheville, North Carolina, issued a second temporary restraining order on Oct. 10, 2023, barring members of the press from publishing about a former student who is suing the University of North Carolina System and multiple university administrators, according to court records.

The plaintiff, who filed the suit on Feb. 15 under the pseudonym Jacob Doe, alleges that he was wrongfully expelled from UNC-Chapel Hill after being accused of sexual assault by four undergraduate women.

When filing the suit, Doe simultaneously filed the motion for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction, requesting that no information be released by the defendants or published by the media. Chief U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger granted that temporary restraining order on Feb. 22, citing possible irreparable harm to the plaintiff.

Immediately after the restraint went into effect, however, the parties jointly filed to withdraw the motion and Reidinger dissolved the order on March 1.

Doe refiled his motion seven months later, after UNC informed him that it had received a public records request seeking to identify him, according to court records. On Oct. 10, District Judge Max Cogburn Jr. granted the motion.

As with the initial prior restraint, the university is barred from disclosing any information about the disciplinary proceedings at the heart of the lawsuit. UNC is also required to instruct news outlets that they are barred from publishing any information about Doe or his disciplinary proceedings that they may receive.