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.<\/p>\n
Ellen \u201cEllie\u201d Fisher, a third-year law student, Texas Tech undergraduate alum and founder of the campus\u2019 NAACP chapter, says news of Kirk\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit<\/a>, filed Sunday in federal court in Lubbock, also says that nearly two months later, on Nov. 6, someone scrawled a racial slur on Fisher\u2019s car while it was parked on Texas Tech property.<\/p>\n After Fisher reported that incident, the lawsuit said, the school told her it was \u201cirrelevant\u201d and proceeded with a monthslong Honor Council investigation into whether Fisher acted unprofessionally when she discussed Kirk\u2019s killing in classrooms and clinic offices.<\/p>\n The process ended March 11, when the Honor Council panel of faculty members and a student found Fisher responsible for violating the law school\u2019s honor code after concluding her comments appeared \u201cloud, happy and celebratory\u201d and made some people uncomfortable. The lawsuit disputes that characterization, arguing witness accounts conflicted and that some testimony described Fisher\u2019s comments as neither unusual nor unprofessional.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The lawsuit asks a judge to determine that Texas Tech violated Fisher\u2019s constitutional rights, block the recommended reprimand from being placed in her school record, and award monetary damages, including punitive damages.<\/p>\n In an interview with The Texas Tribune in March, Michael Thad Allen, Fisher\u2019s attorney, said the case raises a basic question about legal education. \u201cWhat kind of lawyers are they going to produce at the Texas Tech School of Law?\u201d he said. \u201cThey can\u2019t be made to feel uncomfortable? That is infantilizing.\u201d<\/p>\n The Tribune has requested comment from the Texas Tech University System, Texas Tech University and the law school.<\/p>\n The lawsuit comes after top Texas Republicans pushed universities to punish students over speech about Kirk\u2019s death. Last fall, Gov.Greg Abbott<\/a>called for a Texas State University freshman to be expelled<\/a>, and Attorney GeneralKen Paxton<\/a>saidhis office would investigate<\/a>the University of North Texas for not disciplining students accused of celebrating Kirk\u2019s shooting.<\/p>\n