There’s been a recent wave of First Amendment cases coming out of red state public universities. The University of Florida is figuring out if and when schools can respond to potential threats, The University of Oklahoma being pushed to reckon with if Jesus can actually be the answer, and the University of Tennessee is pressing if a school can retaliate against professors sharing opinions that others find unsavory. Shortly after Charlie Kirk’s death, any mention of the man had people on the cusp of unemployment — merely quoting the man could have gotten you fired. This suit centers on an assessment of the man rather than a quote from him, but the outcome of the lawsuit could have reaching consequences for how public universities can respond to speech they don’t like. Knox News has coverage:
University of Tennessee System leaders could be called to testify in the federal suit filed Oct. 29 by assistant professor of cultural anthropology Tamar Shirinian and her attorney, Robb Bigelow. Shirinian asserts the university and UT System violated her First Amendment free speech rights and is applying a double standard in its plans to fire her.
“I was frankly shocked by the university’s actions against me,” Shirinian told Knox News on Dec. 5. “I don’t understand how they could possibly justify terminating a faculty member for expressing her own private opinions in her own private life.”
The outrage stems from her comment on a Facebook friend’s post that “the world is better without [Charlie Kirk] in it.” To be honest, handing out posthumous scumbag designations just seems like honoring Charlie’s legacy, but what do I know.
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The facts seem to skew heavily in Shirinian’s favor. She and her lawyer rightly pointed out that University of Tennessee professor Glenn Reynolds posted “Run them down” under a video of protestors back in 2019 and was able to keep his job. That sets a pretty high bar — one that seems higher than the University of Florida free speech case about a tweet calling for Jews to be “abolished.” University of Florida read the tweet as a threat, but there is a good faith argument that Damsky was just sharing his opinion. “Abolish” as used may signal threatening intent, but determining that necessarily hinges on how Prof. Noel Ignatiev used the word. Here’s the text of the tweet for a refresher:
Reynolds’s comment doesn’t require any comparison with other authors to see that it’s a call to violence. Calls to violence, like threats, shouldn’t get the free speech protections that sharing private opinions or political positions enjoy. If Reynolds’s comments were fair game, it is hard to see how Shirinian’s “this guy sucks” comment passes the threshold.
Hopefully this quickly resolves in Shirinian’s favor. If not, you should expect to see a chilling effect on public university professors. This isn’t the first time that a professor has gotten in trouble for less-than kind words toward political figures — Ken Levy comes to mind — but university backlash for what should be protected speech needs to be nipped in the bud before constitutional protections are eroded by the need to protect everyone’s feelings.
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Tennessee Prof On Her Lawsuit Over Charlie Kirk Comment: ‘I Cannot Move On’ [Knox News]
Earlier: Court Gives LSU Greenlight To Investigate Law Professor For Bad-Mouthing Our Supreme Leader
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim, is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.