Summary
Florida State University administrators and student senate officials repeatedly failed to address unconstitutional retaliation against student Jack Denton, the president of the FSU Student Senate, for sharing his personal religious beliefs in private text conversations with other students. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys sent a letter and then filed a lawsuit after the school failed to address the unconstitutional violation of Denton’s First Amendment freedoms.
Case timeline
- July 2020: ADF attorneys sent a letter to Florida State administrators asking them to address the unconstitutional retaliation against Jack Denton. Unfortunately, Jack’s appeals to administrators and fellow students didn’t change the situation.
- August 2020: Jack filed a lawsuit against Florida State.
- October 2020: A federal court acknowledged that Jack’s freedom of speech was likely violated and ordered Florida State to pay him as president of the Student Senate while the lawsuit continued. Later that month, Florida State’s Student Supreme Court reinstated Jack as Student Senate president.
- May 2021: Florida State agreed to settle the lawsuit and restore Jack’s lost wages, paying $10,000 in damages to him, as well as nearly $85,000 in attorneys’ fees.
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Commentary
University officials bow to protesters, prove actions are louder than words
Tyson Langhofer
December 15, 2022
Florida State Case Demonstrates: Cowardice Is The Demise Of Higher Education
Tyson Langhofer
June 01, 2021
Religious discrimination should have no place at FSU
Jack Denton
October 18, 2020
Cancel Culture Kicked Me Out of My College Job Simply Because I Was Catholic
Jack Denton
September 13, 2020
I was ousted as Student Senate president for my Catholic faith—Now I’m taking a stand
Jack Denton
September 02, 2020