MOVING TO FRONT AGAIN (ORIGINALLY POSTED JANUARY 30) –MORE UPDATES

Story here.  (A "go fund me" campaign for his legal fees has been started here.)  "Fuck Landry" and "fuck Trump" are admirable sentiments, but it's not clear they fall within the scope of his academic freedom as a teacher (it would depend on the nuances of the context of what he was teaching that day).  They are certainly not protected by his general free speech rights (he would be protected had he stood on a street corner saying that).  Faculty have less freedom of expression in the classroom than they do outside it.  Still, the absence of any notice or opportunity to defend against the allegations is a serious procedural failing by LSU, quite apart from the substantive merits (which, as I said, require more detail about context to evaluate).  Just to be clear:  even if he had no right to say what he did in the classroom, this is not even close to a firing offense, no matter how much the lawless Landry would like that.

UPDATE:  A state court has already issued a temporary restraining order on LSU, ordering that Professor Levy be returned to the classroom.  From the account here, it now seems clear that the comments at issue were a case of mentioning rather than using "fuck the governor" and humor.  Thank goodness for courts still committed to the rule of law.

2/5/25 UPDATE:   An appeal court has overruled the lower court's decision that Professor Levy must be returned to the classroom.  If Professor Levy prevails on the merits, his continuing absence from the classroom will then figure in an assessment of damages he is due for the university's action.

2/12/25 UPDATE:  Another judge has now ordered LSU to return Professor Levy to the classroom.  The decision to suspend him was made by the University President!