A Trump-appointed judge in North Texas is refusing to grant a preliminary injunction to a Texas Tech law student who is being punished for celebrating the assassination of right-wing youth activist Charlie Kirk.
The student, Ellie Mae Fisher, was investigated by Texas Tech, a public university in Lubbock, over celebratory comments she made after Kirk was gunned down at a political event in Utah last September. Fisher, who was working for a legal aid clinic associated with the school, filed a First Amendment lawsuit, in anticipation that the school would reprimand her and refer her to the state bar.
U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr concluded that Fisher did not have recourse to seek a preliminary injunction — at least not now — because Texas Tech has sovereign immunity under the 11th Amendment, which limits the ability to bring lawsuits against states and state-run entities under certain circumstances.
Starr did not rule out the possibility that Fisher’s First Amendment rights had been violated, or that there might be a way to seek damages for it, but that the preliminary injunction she sought was invalid.
“The Court must deny the motion,” Starr wrote. “As the late Coach Leach found out, Texas Tech has sovereign immunity (called Eleventh Amendment immunity when a state is hauled into federal court). Some laws, like Title IX, waive that immunity for states and agencies. But the First Amendment doesn’t. And while section 1983 might have a role in this case to allow plaintiffs to recover damages for past actions that violated the First Amendment, it does not waive immunity for a defendant like Fisher to get a future injunction to nullify past action.”
“Because of this immunity, Fisher has not shown she is clearly entitled to relief the Court lacks the power to order,” Starr concluded. “As such, the Court DENIES the motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction.”
Republicans have sought to use every power possible to target people who have spoken ill of Kirk in the wake of his death. In another case, the chancellor of Ole Miss was sued by an employee who was fired over Charlie Kirk’s posts.
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