In 2020, Florida State University was put in the spotlight for a consequential free-speech and religion case. A student named Jack Denton was removed from his position as president of the Student Senate after private messages he sent in a Catholic student group chat were made public and widely criticized.
Denton, a devout Catholic and an active student leader, had been elected by his peers to run the student senate, which is a position that, at a public university, carries official duties and recognition. In late May 2020, during a GroupMe chat among members of the Catholic Student Union, another student shared a video raising money for different causes, including organizations associated with racial justice. Denton responded by expressing his view that some of those organizations advocated for positions that contradicted what he believed were core Catholic teachings on issues like abortion, gender identity, and the “common good.”
Although this exchange took place privately, someone took screenshots and shared them outside the chat. Outrage spread quickly on social media and on the FSU campus, and a petition calling for Denton’s removal received thousands of signatures. The student senate initially held a vote of no confidence, which ended up failing; but later voted again and removed Denton as Student Senate President solely because of his remarks.
Not satisfied with internal appeals, Denton filed a federal lawsuit against the university and student senate officials, arguing that his removal violated his First Amendment rights to free speech and the free exercise of religion. He claimed that he was punished for expressing deeply held religious beliefs that were unpopular. Federal courts eventually sided with Denton. A judge agreed that his claims were likely to succeed and ordered the university to stop withholding his salary. The student university Supreme Court also ruled that his removal violated his constitutional rights and reinstated him. Florida State later settled the case, compensating Denton and publicly affirming its commitment to students’ First Amendment rights.
Denton was punished because of what he said, which was religiously and politically motivated. Even though this was private speech, the argument is that public institutions cannot penalize speech just because others find it offensive or disagree with it. If the state, which includes a public university, penalizes someone because of religiously grounded beliefs, that raises a free-exercise concern.
The Supreme Court has emphasized that public institutions must protect speech, including religious speech, even when it discomforts others. If student government bodies can remove leaders for speaking on controversial but constitutionally protected topics, then participation in public life will become artificial and less genuine. This issue matters because student governments are a strongly influential part of universities. They are also part of the government structure at public universities, which often work with budgets, influence, and official recognition. If members must hide their beliefs to serve, then it sends a message to students that your voice is acceptable only if it aligns with other people’s beliefs.
At the heart of the Jack Denton case is a difficult constitutional question that is at the intersection of free exercise of religion, free speech, and state action: Can a public university, acting through its student government, remove an elected official because his religiously motivated speech conflicts with prevailing campus values?
No, I believe that public universities have a constitutional obligation to protect speech, including religious speech, even when it’s unpopular or uncomfortable. Student governments function as part of state institutions, so they must operate within First Amendment bounds. From a policy perspective, universities should prioritize dialogue and debate over looking to seek out a punishment for it. Our constitutional tradition recognizes that free and open discourse, especially on matters of religion and morality, is central to democratic life. Conditioning student government participation in agreement with particular viewpoints based on other people’s opinions undermines that ideal.
https://adflegal.org/article/jack-denton-story/
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