The first day for a hearing that will decide if an LSU law professor suing the university can temporarily return to class brought an impassioned testimony from the professor on Monday.
Ken Levy, a tenured criminal and constitutional law professor, was barred from teaching classes by LSU on Jan. 21 after a student reported he’d made political and profane comments while lecturing. Levy responded with a lawsuit days later, arguing his right to free speech had been violated.
“I can no longer do what gives my life meaning,” Levy said after being called as the plaintiffs’ first witness. “I feel like I’ve been robbed. Totally robbed.”
Monday’s hearing was meant to decide if the court would issue a temporary restraining order allowing Levy to return to his classroom. With many witnesses set to give testimony, including LSU President William Tate IV, the proceedings didn’t get past Levy’s testimony, which lasted several hours.
The hearing will continue Tuesday at 8:30 a.m.
In a combative cross-examination between him and Levy, LSU’s lawyer Jimmy Faircloth Jr. argued that Levy’s comments in class didn’t contribute in any meaningful way to his students’ learning and that LSU has dealt no harm to Levy.
“This is a pretty simple, straightforward employment issue,” Faircloth said. “There is no big political narrative. It is of his own making.”
Throughout the hearing, Levy and his team argued that Levy’s comments were made facetiously and didn’t violate any LSU rule. In addition, the plaintiffs argued LSU did not give Levy due process in disregarding its own bylaws and suspending Levy before a thorough investigation.
Another development of Monday’s proceedings was an order to Gov. Jeff Landry to cooperate with a subpoena for text messages he exchanged with LSU officials. Landry’s office promptly provided two pages of records, but the contents were not disclosed publicly.
Also subpoenaed and present as witnesses were LSU Law School Dean Alena Allen, LSU Director of Employee Relations Lindsay Madatic and LSU Professor Emeritus Patrick Martin IV. In addition, students taught by Levy were set to give testimony.
Monday’s hearing was initially scheduled for 9:30 a.m. but was moved to 1 p.m. and lasted until past 5 p.m. Monday.
The court had previously issued a temporary restraining order on Jan. 30 in advance of the hearing, but it was revoked on appeal, once again prohibiting Levy from teaching.
Levy’s comments, according to a transcript obtained by WAFB, included saying “f**k the Governor” and that he was “devastated” by President Trump’s electoral win.
A small group of LSU Law students gathered outside of the courthouse wearing red in protest of Levy’s removal. According to one protester, the group wore red so that their support of Levy would be visible. Several of the protesters attended Levy’s hearing.
“It’s serious because if LSU attacks one person’s free speech, it’s an attack on everyone’s free speech,” said Ryan Spalt, a biochemistry senior and president of Students for a Democratic Society at LSU. “Repression is a real thing at LSU. This is a whole new level. Taking away and ruining someone’s career over political comments.”
Levy is represented by Jill Craft.
A previous version of this article misidentified witness Patrick Martin as LSU Assistant Vice President for Real Estate, Public Partnerships and Compliance, a title held by a different Patrick Martin associated with LSU. A correction has been made.
