A Louisiana appellate court on Thursday dissolved a temporary restraining order that had prevented LSU from suspending four students and athletes over an alleged hazing incident at a Halloween party in 2020 and another incident about a year later.

At the end of the day, however, the students have essentially what they wanted: assurances from LSU that it won't stack the deck against them, Animal House-style.

The university in 2022 moved to suspend the four and ban them from campus. The four,  who were not named in the court file, argued that the LSU officials handling the case had simultaneously served as investigator, prosecutor, legal advisor and decision-maker, while they themselves didn't have lawyers lined up for planned hearings.

"It's 100 percent the same from 'Animal House,'" said lawyer Jill Craft, referring to the 1978 movie that includes a sham disciplinary hearing against members of the Delta house.  

While the students' lawsuit was pending, legislators changed the way university discipline cases are handled. Judge William M. Jorden, from the 19^th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge, cited the new law while issuing a temporary restraining order against LSU.

He said the university’s procedures didn’t meet “constitutional muster” and that it needed a new Code of Student Conduct. The 1^st Circuit Court of Appeal, in a decision Thursday, said Jorden was wrong to apply the law retroactively, and set aside the temporary order.

In its ruling, though, the court noted that LSU and the students had agreed that, going forward, LSU would follow the new law without violating the students' rights. "This is what we wanted," Craft said.

State lawmakers have imposed tougher anti-hazing laws since the 2017 alcohol-related death of LSU student Max Gruver after a fraternity party.