A federal judge has put a temporary stop to a North Carolina State University policy requiring  student groups to obtain a permit for non-commercial student speech on campus, reports Alliance Defending Freedom. The order granting a preliminary injunction came down Saturday following a Thursday hearing where the registered student group Grace Christian Life argued the policy violated their First Amendment rights.

Grace Christian Life was informed in September that they must obtain a permit to have religious conversations with other students or to invite them to attend Grace Christian Life’s events. The student group acquired a permit and was told at that time they could speak with other students from behind their table or from anywhere in the student union room at NC State. However, when group members left their table during the event to speak with students, they were approached by a member of the Student Involvement Office and told that they must remain behind the table and refrain from approaching students elsewhere.

According to ADF, the university did not require many other student groups to obtain a permit, and members of Grace Christian Life confirmed this, observing that other student groups were not restricted in the same way and documented those groups approaching students away from their assigned table in the student union — in many cases, in view of the same Student Involvement Office member who interfered with Grace Christian Life.

Hannalee Alrutz, an NCSU senior and president of Grace Christian Life, told The Daily Signal, “The policy kills our speech. It puts a lot of fear in us so that when we desire to talk to somebody on campus, like a fellow student, there is always, in the back of our mind, a worry that we may be stopped or punished, because the policy allows for that.”

ADF Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer said that the only permit that should be needed is the First Amendment. “NC State is acting inconsistently with its own calling as a marketplace of ideas with this unconstitutional restriction on free speech,” he said in a statement. “Students of any political, religious or ideological persuasion should be able to freely and peacefully speak with their fellow students about their views without interference from government officials who may prefer one view over another.

North Carolina State’s Regulation 07.25.12 states that students must obtain a permit in advance from the Student Involvement Office for “… any distribution of leaflets, brochures or other written material, or oral speech to a passersby (sic) …” The preliminary injunction to stop the university from enforcing this regulation will remain in place until the case is resolved.