An Ohio college professor who resisted his school’s orders to go along with transgender students’ preferred pronouns has won his First Amendment case before a federal appeals court.
In a unanimous ruling, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that Shawnee State University violated Prof. Nicholas Meriwether’s rights of free speech and free exercise of religion by punishing him for resisting school rules that forced him to address students in the terms of their choosing. MORE AT https://nypost.com/CO2021/03/27/prof-who-refused-transgender-students-pronouns-wins-in-court/
LEGAL DECISION----THAPAR, Circuit Judge. Traditionally, American universities have been beacons of intellectual diversity and academic freedom. They have prided themselves on being forums where controversial ideas are discussed and debated. And they have tried not to stifle debate by picking sides. But Shawnee State chose a different route: It punished a professor for his speech on a hotly contested issue. And it did so despite the constitutional protections afforded by the First Amendment. The district court dismissed the professor’s free-speech and free-exercise claims. We see things differently and reverse. READ IT AT https://www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/21a0071p-06.pdf
Thank you for the decision text!
ReplyDeleteWhat an excellent read. That decision should be read and studied by every University President, Provost and Title IX officer.
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