First Amendment and Higher Education

U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor granted a preliminary injunction ordering the University of Florida to reinstate law student Preston Damsky by December 1 after UF expelled him over online statements and seminar papers, including a post calling for Jews to “be abolished.” The judge found UF had not shown the speech was a true threat or otherwise unprotected and cited the Supreme Court’s Virginia v. Black decision, while noting UF’s prior security measures and campus ban after safety complaints.