LSU professor's free speech suit rejected by state's highest court
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — The Louisiana Supreme Court will not hear the case of an LSU professor suspended after making political comments in class.
Ken Levy filed a lawsuit against the LSU Board of Supervisors in January, arguing that his suspension from teaching violated his free speech, academic freedom and due process rights. A lower court ruled he could return to the classroom, but an appeals court reversed it.
On Tuesday, the state's highest court formally denied Levy's request to review his case. Chief Justice Weimer would have allowed the case to move forward, but the majority did not agree, according to court documents.
Justice Hughes agreed with the decision to deny the appeal but added an opinion. He said the classroom is not a place for obscenities and compared it to a public square, where people can choose to listen or walk away, unlike students who are a 'captive audience.'
'It's a disappointing decision, but I plan to keep fighting for my First Amendment rights, academic freedom, and due process,' Levy said in a statement to Louisiana First News.
Speaker Mike Johnson backs tax cut bill; advocates warn of Medicaid impact
Funeral arrangements set for oldest Louisiana World War II veteran
Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson suspends re-election campaign
LSU professor's free speech suit rejected by state's highest court
Proposed tax hike on online sports betting lowered in House
First tropical wave appears ahead of hurricane season. Here's what to know
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNN
7 minutes ago
- CNN
Anti-Trump protests cap a week of free speech stress tests across America
Virtually every flashpoint in American politics right now involves the First Amendment right to free speech and free expression. Some of this tension is due to President Donald Trump, who vowed in his inaugural address to 'bring back free speech to America,' but who keeps showing that he wants some forms of speech to carry a great cost. From arrests of Palestinian activists to blitzes against universities to threats against demonstrators in Washington, DC, the Trump administration's actions and words have alarmed free speech organizations — and have fueled Saturday's 'No Kings' protests across the country. 'Trump's retaliation campaign against free speech has entered a new and even more dangerous phase,' Nora Benavidez, a civil rights and free speech attorney at the group Free Press, told CNN Friday. Get Reliable Sources newsletter Sign up here to receive Reliable Sources with Brian Stelter in your inbox. International human rights groups have taken notice. Amnesty International denounced Trump's recent claim that any protests during Saturday's Army parade would be met with 'very big force.' 'Now is a good moment to remind President Trump that protesting is a human right and that his administration is obligated to respect, protect, and fulfill the human rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly – not suppress them,' the group said in a statement. Between the military parade in DC and the anti-Trump demonstrations expected in all 50 states, Saturday is shaping up to be a huge show of — and test for — free speech rights. Ezra Levin, the co-founder of Indivisible, a progressive nonprofit, said Friday on CNN's 'Inside Politics' that 'we want to see people exercising their First Amendment rights, because when those rights are under threat, if you don't stand up in defense of them, you don't have those rights.' First Amendment freedoms — and concerns about whether they're being upheld — are a through-line of numerous legal battles and administration maneuvers. The editorial board of The Everett Herald in Washington state put it this way on Thursday: 'The First Amendment has been getting a workout in recent days. Even amid abuses of those rights, that's for the good.' It's also keeping advocacy groups very busy. Benavidez said the examples of Trump 'targeting perceived enemies and dissenting voices' with investigations and public intimidation are almost too extensive to list. 'This is all an escalation of the Trump administration's scheme to silence critics and weaken any institutional and societal checks against his abuse of power — all the while promoting a version of free speech that rewards capitulation and penalizes anything less,' she said. Trump officials and allies have repeatedly cited security risks while curtailing free speech rights, as in the case of Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate at the center of a high-profile deportation fight over his pro-Palestinian views. Security concerns were also invoked when Sen. Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's press conference on Thursday. Rep. Nancy Pelosi condemned the handcuffing of Padilla by calling it 'an assault on freedom of speech in our country.' Press groups have also warned about potential First Amendment violations during the anti-ICE protests in L.A. and other cities. On Friday, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and 60 media outlets, including CNN, sent a letter to federal, state, and local officials asking them to ensure that authorities uphold the rights of journalists to report on law enforcement activity without reprisal. These days, free versus restricted speech is not the relevant dividing line. Rather, it's favored versus disfavored speech — and Trump is very explicit about which is which. During his falling-out with Elon Musk, Trump said Musk would face 'very serious consequences' if he funded Democratic challengers to Republican candidates, a comment that many interpreted as a threat. In a recent interview with the New York Post, Trump boasted about 'getting rid of woke in our schools, our military, and just in our society,' claiming, 'You're not seeing woke anymore. It almost became illegal.' His recent assertion that masks are not allowed at protests was also seen, by civil liberties groups, as an infringement on the right to free expression. Meanwhile, the Trump administration's moves against media outlets like The Associated Press, Voice of America, NPR and PBS have spawned First Amendment lawsuits in recent weeks. Several of the targeted outlets cited Trump's claims about bias and 'fake news' to argue that the president committed viewpoint discrimination. Critics say various other actions — like deleting government websites and stripping books from shelves — have also been against the spirit, even when not against the letter, of the First Amendment. California Governor Gavin Newsom raised the subject in his address to the state on Tuesday night. Trump is 'delegitimizing news organizations and he's assaulting the First Amendment,' Newsom said. He concluded by telling residents, 'if you exercise your First Amendment rights, please, please do it peacefully.'
CNN
11 minutes ago
- CNN
Anti-Trump protests will cap a week of free speech stress tests across America
Virtually every flashpoint in American politics right now involves the First Amendment right to free speech and free expression. Some of this tension is due to President Donald Trump, who vowed in his inaugural address to 'bring back free speech to America,' but who keeps showing that he wants some forms of speech to carry a great cost. From arrests of Palestinian activists to blitzes against universities to threats against demonstrators in Washington, DC, the Trump administration's actions and words have alarmed free speech organizations — and have fueled Saturday's 'No Kings' protests across the country. 'Trump's retaliation campaign against free speech has entered a new and even more dangerous phase,' Nora Benavidez, a civil rights and free speech attorney at the group Free Press, told CNN Friday. Get Reliable Sources newsletter Sign up here to receive Reliable Sources with Brian Stelter in your inbox. International human rights groups have taken notice. Amnesty International denounced Trump's recent claim that any protests during Saturday's Army parade would be met with 'very big force.' 'Now is a good moment to remind President Trump that protesting is a human right and that his administration is obligated to respect, protect, and fulfill the human rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly – not suppress them,' the group said in a statement. Between the military parade in DC and the anti-Trump demonstrations expected in all 50 states, Saturday is shaping up to be a huge show of — and test for — free speech rights. Ezra Levin, the co-founder of Indivisible, a progressive nonprofit, said Friday on CNN's 'Inside Politics' that 'we want to see people exercising their First Amendment rights, because when those rights are under threat, if you don't stand up in defense of them, you don't have those rights.' First Amendment freedoms — and concerns about whether they're being upheld — are a through-line of numerous legal battles and administration maneuvers. The editorial board of The Everett Herald in Washington state put it this way on Thursday: 'The First Amendment has been getting a workout in recent days. Even amid abuses of those rights, that's for the good.' It's also keeping advocacy groups very busy. Benavidez said the examples of Trump 'targeting perceived enemies and dissenting voices' with investigations and public intimidation are almost too extensive to list. 'This is all an escalation of the Trump administration's scheme to silence critics and weaken any institutional and societal checks against his abuse of power — all the while promoting a version of free speech that rewards capitulation and penalizes anything less,' she said. Trump officials and allies have repeatedly cited security risks while curtailing free speech rights, as in the case of Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate at the center of a high-profile deportation fight over his pro-Palestinian views. Security concerns were also invoked when Sen. Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's press conference on Thursday. Rep. Nancy Pelosi condemned the handcuffing of Padilla by calling it 'an assault on freedom of speech in our country.' Press groups have also warned about potential First Amendment violations during the anti-ICE protests in L.A. and other cities. On Friday, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and 60 media outlets, including CNN, sent a letter to federal, state, and local officials asking them to ensure that authorities uphold the rights of journalists to report on law enforcement activity without reprisal. These days, free versus restricted speech is not the relevant dividing line. Rather, it's favored versus disfavored speech — and Trump is very explicit about which is which. During his falling-out with Elon Musk, Trump said Musk would face 'very serious consequences' if he funded Democratic challengers to Republican candidates, a comment that many interpreted as a threat. In a recent interview with the New York Post, Trump boasted about 'getting rid of woke in our schools, our military, and just in our society,' claiming, 'You're not seeing woke anymore. It almost became illegal.' His recent assertion that masks are not allowed at protests was also seen, by civil liberties groups, as an infringement on the right to free expression. Meanwhile, the Trump administration's moves against media outlets like The Associated Press, Voice of America, NPR and PBS have spawned First Amendment lawsuits in recent weeks. Several of the targeted outlets cited Trump's claims about bias and 'fake news' to argue that the president committed viewpoint discrimination. Critics say various other actions — like deleting government websites and stripping books from shelves — have also been against the spirit, even when not against the letter, of the First Amendment. California Governor Gavin Newsom raised the subject in his address to the state on Tuesday night. Trump is 'delegitimizing news organizations and he's assaulting the First Amendment,' Newsom said. He concluded by telling residents, 'if you exercise your First Amendment rights, please, please do it peacefully.'
USA Today
11 minutes ago
- USA Today
Army 250th anniversary parade: tanks and thousands of troops take to DC streets: Live updates
Army 250th anniversary parade: tanks and thousands of troops take to DC streets: Live updates Show Caption Hide Caption Military equipment headed to DC ahead of Trump's birthday parade Battle tanks, fighting vehicles and infantry carriers departed Texas for D.C. for President Trump's military parade. Tanks, armored vehicles and thousands of soldiers will march through the streets of Washington, D.C., to celebrate the Army's 250th anniversary in a massive, expensive and controversial military parade on June 14 – also President Donald Trump's 79th birthday. Helicopters and World War II-era warplanes will fly overhead and Army parachutists will soar down to the White House's ellipse, where Trump will preside over the parade from a presidential booth. A day-long program of Army-organized activities and music is scheduled before the parade begins at around 6:30 p.m. Critics say the $40 million parade represents an alarming politicization of the military and bears eerie resemblance to military parades held by North Korea or Russia. Thousands of "No Kings" protests against Trump, the parade, and his ongoing immigration crackdown are also scheduled across the country. Although weather forecasts predict possible thunderstorms on the evening of June 14 in the nation's capital, the Trump administration has not announced any contingency plan for a rained-out parade. Saturday's parade might may also draw attention to Trump being the oldest commander-in-chief in U.S. history. Born June 14, 1946, when Harry Truman was president, he set the record for oldest person to take office at 78 years and 7 months, ahead of Joe Biden, who was 78 years and 2 months when he took office in January 2021. The age of American elected officials has been a topic of concern lately, mostly due to questions raised around Biden's acuity that hounded him for most of his term. Democrats have tried to do the same to Trump, such as when he mixed up the Japanese car company Nissan and the Japanese steel company Nippon last month. "He is not the same person that I dealt with just four years ago, and he's incapable of even a train of thought," California Gov. Gavin Newsom said of Trump in a recent interview. But that narrative hasn't stuck to Trump, who is known to ramble in public speeches but comes off as more vigorous to the public than Biden did. — Phillip M. Bailey Washington's weather forecast for the day of the parade shows a high of 83 degrees, with showers beginning in the late morning and possible thunderstorms after 2 p.m. local time. After 6 p.m., when the parade will kick off, forecasters predict a 75% chance of precipitation and some chance of thunder. The Army said on June 13 that the weather is "being closely monitored and taken into consideration, but at this point nothing has changed." More than 1,800 "No Kings" protests against the parade, Trump, and what protesters call his authoritarian policies, are scheduled in cities and towns throughout the world – but not Washington. Trump first said on June 10 that protests would be met with "very big force." The White House backtracked days later, and press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump "of course" supports peaceful protests. Other demonstrators have kept their plans in Washington on the day of the parade, with some fearing a crackdown like the response to protests against widescale deportations in Los Angeles.
