Free Speech

Let’s bring some ‘No Kings’ energy to the South Carolina General Assembly

Dr. Emily Taylor was forced out of her position at Presbyterian College after writing an essay that upset lawmakers. The ACLU-SC is asking a court to uphold her First Amendment rights.

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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.

In October 2025, South Carolina public school librarians and students filed a lawsuit asking a federal court to block enforcement of the state’s unconstitutional book banning regulation and a classroom censorship memo issued by the state education superintendent. The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of Regulation 43-170, which bans all materials in kindergarten through 12th grade public schools if they contain descriptions or depictions of “sexual conduct.” This regulation, which was promoted by Superintendent Ellen Weaver and took effect in June 2024, led to the banning or restriction of 22 books statewide — the largest number of state-mandated school book bans in any state, according to PEN America. (See the full list of books below.) The lawsuit also challenges a memorandum issued by Superintendent Weaver on March 14, 2025, that requires state employees to indoctrinate students according to the superintendent’s views on sex, gender, race, and American exceptionalism. The memo prohibits 14 ideas and concepts from S.C. Department of Education materials, including “implicit bias,” “restorative justice,” “cisgender,” and “social-emotional learning,” although it notes that its list of taboo concepts is “not exhaustive.” The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are the South Carolina Association of School Librarians (SCASL) and three minor public school students. The suit challenges the superintendent’s censorship regime under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

Clemson University fired a faculty member in September 2025 for sharing another person's Facebook post via his personal account that was critical of the late conservative pundit Charlie Kirk. The full text of the post is available below. The public university fired a highly qualified assistant professor under pressure from politicians who threatened to defund the university if it did not bend to their will. Faculty at Clemson say that the firing “sent shockwaves through the faculty, triggered an emergency meeting of the faculty senate, and has fractured the faculty’s trust and confidence in the Provost, University President, and Board of Trustees.” The plaintiff in this case, Dr. Joshua Bregy, worked as an assistant professor in Clemson’s Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences. He researched the reconstruction of hurricane records and taught both undergraduate and graduate courses. Because Dr. Bregy is the only faculty member who is qualified to teach those courses, the university scrambled to meet the needs of its students after firing him. Dr. Bregy’s complaint is asking a federal court to declare his firing unconstitutional under the First Amendment, order the university to reinstate him, and award back pay as well as compensatory and punitive damages.

Library patrons sued South Carolina’s most populous county for purging literature by and about LGBTQ+ people from its public library collection.