What
do
you
do
when
the
facts
and
the
law
aren’t
on
your
side?
Throw
money
at
the
problem!
Tenured
law
school
professor
Ken
Levy
of
Louisiana
State
University
was
suspended
from
teaching
his
students
because
of
comments
he
made
about
state
governor
Jeff
Landry
and
President
Donald
Trump.
Campus
free
speech
advocates
immediately
hounded
the
school
for
penalizing
Prof.
Levy
(as
they
should
have).
A
judge
also
sided
with
Levy,
ordering
the
school
to
let
him
return
to
teaching.
You
might
think
that
the
trouble
would
end
there,
but
that’s
what
you
get
for
expecting
the
school
to
respond
reasonably.
LSU
decided
to
throw
money
at
the
problem
and
appeal
the
judge’s
decision.
And
it
was
crazy
enough
to
work!
WAFB
has
coverage:
The
Louisiana
First
Circuit
Court
of
Appeal
sided
with
LSU
Tuesday,
agreeing
that
the
university
does
not
have
to
immediately
return
embattled
LSU
law
professor
Ken
Levy
to
the
classroom
at
this
time.The
court
said
an
evidentiary
hearing
must
be
held
before
deciding
whether
a
temporary
restraining
order
(TRO)
previously
issued
by
District
Court
Judge
Don
Johnson
should
be
enforced.
That
hearing
is
scheduled
for
February
10,
2025.Johnson
issued
the
TRO
last
week,
ordering
LSU
to
return
Levy
to
the
classroom
immediately.
He
was
set
to
return
to
his
class
Tuesday
afternoon.
Is
this
really
LSU’s
best
use
of
the
money
they
get
from
student
tuition,
donations
and
tax
payers?
What’s
the
endgame
on
going
to
court
so
you
can
punish
a
professor
for
dropping
an
F
bomb
toward
a
governor
or
a
president?
An
earnest
“Hey,
come
on
man”
would
have
been
a
better
play
than
ripping
a
professor
out
of
his
classroom
and
taking
him
to
court
twice
over
such
a
minor
infraction.
I’m
sure
this
falling
out
is
great
for
his
colleagues
morale.
And
what
about
the
students?
If
a
tenured
professor
can
get
in
this
much
trouble
for
an
off-the-cuff
F
you,
what
protections
do
the
students
have
to
speak
their
mind?
This
seems
to
be
a
short
sighted
conflict
—
you’d
expect
a
more
judicious
application
of
spending
and
sense
from
a
law
school.
First
Circuit
Sides
With
LSU
In
Law
Professor
Case
[WAFB]
Earlier:
Judge
Order
Puts
Tenured
Professor
Back
In
Classroom
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boatbuilder
who
cannot
swim, a
published
author
on
critical
race
theory,
philosophy,
and
humor,
and
has
a
love
for
cycling
that
occasionally
annoys
his
peers.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected] and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.