Taylor v. Rankin

In the fall of 2025, four South Carolina lawmakers threatened to block state funds to the private Presbyterian College in Clinton, S.C., unless the college fired an English professor for her writing.

The professor, Dr. Emily Taylor, had published an essay titled “Dying to Be Men: American Masculinity as Death Cult” that was critical of the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The essay concluded:

“I’m sorry for Charlie Kirk and all the other men like him that have been raised in this America and with these ideals of masculinity. I’m sorry that he decided to adopt this hateful ideology and to profit from it. And as the mother to a boy and a girl, my heart breaks for the America these children are growing up in. Here’s hoping we can save ourselves.”

In response, State House Representative Luke S. Rankin* called for Dr. Taylor’s firing. He followed up that threat with a letter, co-signed by fellow State House Representatives Mark Willis, John McCravy, and Craig Gagnon, that threatened to block funds via the Higher Education Tuition Grants Commission unless the college fired her for her speech.

On December 18, 2025, Dr. Taylor resigned because of the threats.

On March 11, 2026, Dr. Taylor sued the four state lawmakers in U.S. District Court for what the lawsuit describes as “textbook, unconstitutional jawboning.” She is asking the court to declare the state lawmakers’ actions unconstitutional and order them to rescind their letter and threats. She also seeks compensation for back pay, lost benefits, and compensatory and punitive damages.

She is represented in the case by the American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina and by attorney Joshua Snow Kendrick of Kendrick & Leonard, P.C.

Why this case?

The lawsuit demonstrates how state elected officials disregarded Dr. Taylor’s First Amendment rights. As the initial complaint states, the four state lawmakers “abandoned persuasion (which is protected by the First Amendment) and resorted to intimidation and coercion (which is prohibited by the First Amendment) to retaliate against Dr. Taylor for her protected speech.”

Dr. Taylor’s essay is an example of core political speech about matters of deep public concern. The U.S. Supreme Court has long held that such speech “occupies the highest rung of the hierarchy of First Amendment values, and is entitled to special protection” (Connick v. Myers, 1983). More recently, in NRA v. Vullo (2024), the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed that “[a] government official cannot coerce a private party to punish or suppress disfavored speech on [their] behalf.”

The latest

The ACLU of South Carolina filed lawsuit on March 11, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina in the Greenville Division. The case is ongoing.

* State Representative Luke S. Rankin, a defendant in this lawsuit, is a freshman representative from Laurens County — not to be confused with State Senator Luke A. Rankin of Horry County, who serves as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.