Professor suspended after Trump remarks back in class—again

Another Louisiana judge has ruled that tenured law professor Ken Levy can return to teaching, his lawyer said Wednesday.

It’s the latest shift in the lawsuit Levy filed after Louisiana State University barred him from the classroom last month. That suspension came after Levy spoke in a Jan. 14 lecture about Republican Louisiana governor Jeff Landry, President Donald Trump and students who support Trump.

Levy was explaining his course rules to students—including a ban on recording the class. A recording was made nevertheless.

Levy referenced Landry’s public calls in November for LSU to punish Nicholas Bryner, one of Levy’s fellow law professors, for Bryner’s alleged in-class comments about students who support Trump. Levy said he himself “would love to become a national celebrity [student laughter drowns out a moment of the recording] based on what I said in this class, like, ‘Fuck the governor!’”

Levy also referenced Trump. “You probably heard I’m a big lefty, I’m a big Democrat, I was devastated by— I couldn’t believe that fucker won, and those of you who like him, I don’t give a shit, you’re already getting ready to say in your evaluations, ‘I don’t need his political commentary,’” Levy said. “No, you need my political commentary, you above all others.”

A state judge returned Levy to teaching Jan. 30, but a panel of state appeals court judges reversed that last week. But, on Tuesday, Tarvald Anthony Smith, a judge in Louisiana’s 19th Judicial District Court, again returned Levy to the classroom.

In an email Wednesday, LSU spokesman Todd Woodward said, “This was not a question of academic freedom. It was about professionalism and respecting and protecting our students no matter their views.” He said LSU will appeal the ruling.

Landry, who was once the state’s attorney general, called the ruling “absurd” on social media. “It disrespects the broad base of Louisiana citizens who are demanding a level of professionalism in our universities. The judge ignored the facts, the law and the Constitution—but that is what we have come to expect out of the 19th JDC.”

Jill Craft, Levy’s attorney, criticized a former attorney general for criticizing the judiciary in this way.

“We are grateful that it is America,” Craft said. “We were grateful last night and we’re going to continue to be grateful to the United States of America. The First Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment still mean something in this country.”