Deadline Legal Blog-The legal limits of free speech around Charlie Kirk are about to be tested in court
Although this is clearly an opinion on a controversial subject, it is fully protected by the First Amendment, Suzanne Swiercs ACLU lawyers wrote.
https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/free-speech-charlie-kirk-ball-state-professor-swierc-rcna232997
Litigation following the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk is starting up in court not only against his alleged killer but also for people whove been fired for their speech about Kirk.
One of the latest examples comes from Suzanne Swierc, a practicing Catholic who was fired from Indianas Ball State University after she made a private Facebook post in which she wrote that if you think Charlie Kirk was a wonderful person, we cant be friends. She called Kirks death a tragedy and said shes praying for his soul, while calling his death a reflection of the violence, fear, and hatred he sowed.
Kirks supporters and some of his detractors alike have eulogized him as a free speech advocate. Now, the legal limits of speech about Kirk will be tested in court.
Although this is clearly an opinion on a controversial subject, it is fully protected by the First Amendment, Swiercs lawyers with the ACLU of Indiana wrote of her social media post, which is pasted on page four of her civil complaint, filed Monday. Her firing was unconstitutional, and she is entitled to declaratory and injunctive relief and her damages, they wrote.
The suit was filed against the president of the university, Geoffrey Mearns, who will have an opportunity to respond to the complaint before a judge weighs in.
In a statement, Ball State cited a federal appeals courts decision in another school case last month to justify Swiercs firing. That case involved a high school teacher who, as the appeals court summarized, posted a series of vulgar, intemperate, and racially insensitive messages to a large audience of recent high school alumni, and the appeals court noted that it was the teachers third strike and not an isolated incident.