The Latest News from the Institute for Free Speech June 21, 2023 Click here to subscribe to the Daily Media Update. This is the Daily Media Update published by the Institute for Free Speech. For press inquiries, please contact [email protected]. In the News College Fix: Professor sues college after being investigated for calling peer social justice warrior on social media By David Glasser .....A community college professor in California has filed a lawsuit against his employers, alleging faculty who disagree with liberal ideology are being punitively investigated and silenced. The Institute for Free Speech filed a lawsuit on behalf of Professor Daymon Johnson, a full-time professor of history at Bakersfield College, on June 1, after Johnson endured a five-month administrative investigation for calling a peer a radical social justice warrior. Professor Johnson, who is still employed by the school, alleges his First Amendment rights are being violated, as Bakersfield College is a public institution that receives government funding… When reached by The College Fix, attorney Alan Gura, who represents Johnson, said the college’s policies needed changing. “BC’s intolerance of dissent, and its imposition of an official ideology on everyone, is unfortunately part of a growing trend. But if college students and faculty are willing to take a stand, the courts will end it,” Gura told The Fix. “They should drop their complete hostility to diversity and inclusion — diversity of thought, inclusion of people who won’t bow to their particular ideology,” he said. Tallahassee Democrat: Florida Elections Commission learns expensive free speech lesson By Tiffany Donnelly .....If you can dish it out, you’ve got to be able to take it. That’s a lesson the Florida Elections Commission (FEC) is learning the hard way. The state agency tasked with regulating campaigns is usually the one fining others for breaking the law. But recently, the FEC forked over $175,000 in plaintiff’s attorney’s fees for violating the political speech rights of Pensacola resident Kells Hetherington. Hetherington ran for Escambia County School Board, hoping to use his experience in finance to help the county’s public schools. While he was happy to highlight his expertise with potential voters, Hetherington feared revealing his party membership, and for good reason. In a previous run for school board, the commission fined him $200 for telling voters that he was a “lifelong Republican” in a nonpartisan race. New from the Institute for Free Speech Supreme Court Declines to Hear First Amendment Challenge to California’s AB 5 .....The U.S. Supreme Court today declined to grant a petition to hear the case Mobilize the Message, LLC v. Bonta. The case challenged the constitutionality of provisions of California’s AB 5 that prohibit independent contractors from performing canvassing work for campaigns and advocacy groups. However, AB 5 exempts independent contractors who perform identical work as direct sales salespersons and newspaper carriers. These provisions require political workers to abide by a different set of rules than non-political workers. The only distinguishing feature separating the two is the content of the speech they are paid to promote, a distinction that is presumptively unconstitutional under the First Amendment. Unable to hire canvassers as employees due to the costs involved, and fearful of fines from the state for “misclassifying” them as independent contractors, groups in California must cease canvassing activity or rely solely on volunteers under the terms of AB 5. Mobilize the Message sought to change that. Events Heritage Foundation: The People’s Justice: Clarence Thomas and the Constitutional Stories that Define Him Wednesday, June 21, 2023 12:00 pm - 1:15 pm Join us for a thought-provoking discussion about Justice Clarence Thomas as a man of courage, wisdom, and compassion. Three former Supreme Court litigators who argued landmark cases before the Supreme Court share their views on Thomas’ jurisprudence and the real and human side to his judicial decision-making. Featuring: Judge Amul R. Thapar of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; Randy E. Barnett, professor of constitutional law and director of the Georgetown University Center for the Constitution; Scott Bullock, president and chief counsel for the Institute for Justice; and Alan Gura, vice president for litigation, Institute for Free Speech. Co-hosted by the Federalist Society. Click here to register in-person. Click here to register virtually. The Courts Reason (Volokh Conspiracy): Amicus Brief Opposing Stop W.O.K.E. Act's Limits on Public University Teaching By Eugene Volokh .....My students Pareesa Darafshi, Gerardo Valentino Gorospe IV, and Philip Raucci and I just submitted this brief on behalf of the Academic Freedom Alliance in Pernell & Novoa v. Lamb, the Eleventh Circuit case challenging the Stop W.O.K.E. Act. As you'll see, the brief has to deal with Bishop v. Aronov, the Eleventh Circuit precedent that had upheld some restrictions on teaching by a public university professor; the argument is therefore different than what it might have been if we were writing on a clean slate. Post-Journal: Controversial Kershnar Files Suit Against SUNY By M.J. Stafford .....SUNY Fredonia professor Stephen Kershnar has sued two top school officials, alleging they have frozen him out of classroom duties ever since his controversial February 2022 statements about child pedophilia. Kershnar and attorney Barry Covert filed the suit this week in Buffalo at the U.S. District Court Western District of New York. It names SUNY Fredonia President Stephen Kolison and David Starrett, executive vice president and provost, as co-defendants… The suit states that Kolison “gave in to the Twitter mob” after Kershnar’s “challenging questions regarding the moral analysis of sexual conduct involving minors on a philosophy podcast,” which the professor was doing on his own time and not representing the school. Kolison “banished him from the classroom, from the campus, and from any contact with the ‘campus community.'” FEC Washington Post (Technology 202): The AI debate is sweeping through the federal government By Cristiano Lima .....The Federal Election Commission...announced that on Thursday it will consider crafting rules to govern the use of AI in campaign ads, such as the use of deepfakes. One Democratic lawmaker has proposed legislation requiring the disclosure of AI in political ads. Free Expression Wall Street Journal: I Paid for Free Speech at Arizona State By Ann Atkinson .....I thought that Arizona State University, my alma mater and employer, was different from other schools when it came to free speech... But beneath ASU’s written commitment to intellectual diversity lies a deep hostility toward divergent views. The latest trouble started in February when the Lewis Center hosted Robert Kiyosaki, Dennis Prager and Charlie Kirk for an event on “Health, Wealth, and Happiness.” This nonpartisan program was part of a popular speaker series focused on connecting students with professionals who can offer career and life advice. At the names of Messrs. Prager and Kirk, the faculty of ASU’s honors college were outraged. Thirty-nine of its 47 faculty signed a letter to the dean condemning the event on grounds that the speakers are “purveyors of hate who have publicly attacked women, people of color, the LGBTQ community, [and] institutions of our democracy.” The signers decried ASU “platforming and legitimating” their views, describing Messrs. Prager and Kirk as “white nationalist provocateurs” whose comments would undermine the value of democratic exchange by marginalizing the school’s most vulnerable students. The faculty protests extended beyond the letter... The event’s topic made no difference to the faculty protesting it. The political views of Messrs. Prager and Kirk rendered both men personae non grata on any issue. The message to students was clear: Nuance is impossible in the presence of “wrongthink”; the offender must either comply or face sweeping castigation. The States Washington Post (Climate 202): Three states just barred utilities from charging customers for lobbying By Maxine Joselow .....Utilities across the country use money collected from customers’ monthly bills to fund their political activities, including lobbying, advertisements and trade association membership dues. That’s about to change in three states — Colorado, Connecticut and Maine — that recently passed laws to prohibit this practice. Proponents of the measures, which garnered bipartisan support, say they will prevent customers from footing the bill for political activities they might oppose, including lobbying against climate policies. They acknowledge the measures probably won’t save individual consumers much money, but say they’re important transparency steps. Denver Gazette: Editorial: Denver’s Fair Elections Fund flunks By Editorial Board .....Jaded political pros will tell you voters hate big money in politics so much, they’d even support a tax hike if it were labeled, “campaign finance reform.” That’s probably a stretch — and it sells the public short — but it does underscore the deceptive allure of so many proposals over the years to “get money out of politics.” Every such effort at every level of government, throughout Colorado and across the country, has been an utter failure. The policies in fact have made matters much worse. And yet plenty of the voting public continues to rally around the cause, hope against hope, and remains receptive to ever-newer proposals of the same old spiel. It’s as if to say, “maybe this time, they’ll get it right.” Hence, the decision by Denver voters in 2018 to create the Fair Elections Fund — which, of course, flunked its debut in Denver’s 2023 municipal election. This time, the effort even had a twist, offering candidates a carrot to stay on the straight and narrow when raising campaign contributions in any race for Denver office. Read an article you think we would be interested in? Send it to Tiffany Donnelly at [email protected]. For email filters, the subject of this email will always begin with "Institute for Free Speech Media Update." The Institute for Free Speech is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that promotes and defends the political rights to free speech, press, assembly, and petition guaranteed by the First Amendment. Please support the Institute's mission by clicking here. For further information, visit www.ifs.org. Follow the Institute for Free Speech ‌ ‌ ‌ The Institute for Free Speech | 1150 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 801, Washington, DC 20036 Unsubscribe [email protected] Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice Sent by [email protected]