A Texas Tech University law student is suing university leaders and faculty, arguing they violated her free speech rights by disciplining her over comments about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Ellen “Ellie” Fisher, a third-year law student, Texas Tech undergraduate alum and founder of the campus’ NAACP chapter, says news of Kirk’s death broke at the end of a Race and Racism class on Sept. 10 and discussions among students and faculty continued throughout the day in faculty offices and legal clinics, where law students meet clients and work on real cases. Even so, the lawsuit argued, Fisher was the only student investigated and punished.
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The lawsuit, filed Sunday in federal court in Lubbock, also says that nearly two months later, on Nov. 6, someone scrawled a racial slur on Fisher’s car while it was parked on Texas Tech property.
After Fisher reported that incident, the lawsuit said, the school told her it was “irrelevant” and proceeded with a monthslong Honor Council investigation into whether Fisher acted unprofessionally when she discussed Kirk’s killing in classrooms and clinic offices.
The process ended March 11, when the Honor Council panel of faculty members and a student found Fisher responsible for violating the law school’s honor code after concluding her comments appeared “loud, happy and celebratory” and made some people uncomfortable. The lawsuit disputes that characterization, arguing witness accounts conflicted and that some testimony described Fisher’s comments as neither unusual nor unprofessional.
The council recommended a written reprimand be placed in her permanent school record, which the lawsuit says could damage her legal career because she is required to disclose it to the Texas Board of Bar Examiners.
The lawsuit asks a judge to determine that Texas Tech violated Fisher’s constitutional rights, block the recommended reprimand from being placed in her school record, and award monetary damages, including punitive damages.
In an interview with The Texas Tribune in March, Michael Thad Allen, Fisher’s attorney, said the case raises a basic question about legal education. “What kind of lawyers are they going to produce at the Texas Tech School of Law?” he said. “They can’t be made to feel uncomfortable? That is infantilizing.”
The Tribune has requested comment from the Texas Tech University System, Texas Tech University and the law school.
The lawsuit comes after top Texas Republicans pushed universities to punish students over speech about Kirk’s death. Last fall, Gov. Greg Abbott called for a Texas State University freshman to be expelled, and Attorney General Ken Paxton said his office would investigate the University of North Texas for not disciplining students accused of celebrating Kirk’s shooting.
The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.
Disclosure: Texas Tech University, Texas Tech University System and University of North Texas have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.