A former Rutgers law student who says campus police threatened to arrest him over flyers criticizing Hamas has filed a slimmed-down version of his federal lawsuit against the university, and the case is now moving toward a key deadline next month. Yiorgos Maravelias, a disabled U.S. Army veteran who was pursuing a joint law and business degree at Rutgers, was arrested on May 2, 2024, while posting the flyers near an anti-Israel encampment on the Newark campus, and he was charged with disorderly conduct.
From a 137-Page Complaint to a Leaner Legal Fight
Maravelias's original complaint ran 137 pages, but a federal district judge struck it for being too long and ordered him to refile. As reported by jns.org, the new filing is 45 pages, about one-third the length of the original. Court records reviewed by PacerMonitor show that U.S. District Judge William J. Martini granted Rutgers' motion to strike the earlier complaint along with the defendants' motion for joinder on September 10, giving Maravelias 30 days to file an amended version.
The amended complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, now sets up a response deadline for the university. Per the same court record, the defendants' answer to the amended complaint is due November 9, 2026 — just a few weeks from now.
What Happened on May 2, 2024
According to Maravelias's account, campus police warned him that continuing to hang his anti-Hamas flyers would result in arrest, and officers followed through, arresting and charging him with disorderly conduct. The Newark municipal prosecutor dismissed those criminal charges later in 2024, but Maravelias alleges Rutgers continued separate student-conduct proceedings against him even after the criminal case was dropped. The lawsuit claims Rutgers staff conspired to violate his free-speech and free-expression rights and that campus police removed his flyers.
Maravelias says he became involved in campus activism after Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel. Hamas has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States since 1997. He has stated that he is not Jewish, and in comments reported by Fox News, he described Hamas members as rapists, monsters, and savages.
A Dispute Over Who Removed What, and Why
Central to the lawsuit is Maravelias's allegation that Sahar Aziz, a Rutgers law professor and Chancellor's Social Justice Scholar, removed his flyers from a campus bulletin board and told him posting them violated university policy. Maravelias claims he then met with Aziz and Dean Cate Lysionek to discuss the dispute, and he alleges Lysionek told him no policy prohibited the anti-Hamas flyers, directing him instead to Dean Johanna Bond. Aziz has disputed Maravelias's account of what Lysionek said, according to reports. Maravelias further claims that Bond declined to reject Aziz's actions and refused to meet with him.
Maravelias alleges that Rutgers applied its posting rules differently depending on the political viewpoint expressed, and he claims anti-Israel flyers remained on the same bulletin board while his were taken down. Rutgers' own published posting guidelines, found on the university's facilities website, state that all notices and flyers must receive approval before posting and are permitted only in designated areas. The same guidelines say only recognized Rutgers-affiliated student organizations, fraternities and sororities, and departments are permitted to post or distribute materials — though the policy also notes it is not intended to supersede rights provided by applicable collective negotiation agreements or federal or state law.
What the Lawsuit Is Asking For
Maravelias alleges Rutgers violated his First Amendment rights and treated his political views unfairly. He is seeking financial damages, attorneys' fees, an injunction, and other relief, and he has requested a jury trial. His suit broadly asks the court to address what he describes as discriminatory practices at the university.
The case arrives against the backdrop of broader campus tensions tied to the Israel-Hamas war. The Newark Solidarity Coalition set up its own encampment on University Heights on May 1, 2024, demanding Rutgers cut financial and academic ties to Israel, according to NJ 1015. Protesters at Rutgers' New Brunswick campus had separately removed their tents after the university agreed to consider similar divestment demands. Aziz has said that, to her knowledge, faculty had hosted at least two pro-Israel events featuring the Zionist Organization of America and Stand With Us without interference, according to Fox News reporting.
The Rutgers Center for Security, Race and Rights, where Aziz is affiliated, examines issues of national security, race, religion, and civil rights, and its Humanizing Palestine lecture series has featured presentations including Areej Sabbagh-Khoury's talk on the Zionist left and Mouin Rabbani's presentation on Gaza. The clash over flyers, bulletin boards, and enforcement illustrates the broader challenge facing public universities as they try to balance student expression, campus posting rules, and sharply differing political views during an ongoing and emotionally charged conflict.
