Free speech after Charlie Kirk

Is free speech in public schools under threat in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination? John Hilliard, a Globe education reporter, explains. But first, here’s what else is going on:

• Representative Seth Moulton’s challenge to Senator Ed Markey has set off a succession scramble. Two candidates — a Biden White House official and a Topsfield Democrat — are already running to represent Moulton’s North Shore district.
• A judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from firing federal workers during the shutdown. But a prolonged shutdown could delay aid that offsets a lack of local tax revenue for New England school districts located on or near military bases, tribal lands, or other federal property.
• During arguments, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority sounded likely to further weaken the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Doing so could let Republicans eliminate majority Black and Latino congressional districts in southern states, helping their party win more seats in the US House.

Today’s Starting Point

A growing number of teachers and staff across the country, including in Massachusetts, have faced professional discipline after they posted celebratory or negative comments over the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

At least a half dozen public school teachers and staff in Massachusetts have been disciplined for what they’ve said online about Kirk, who was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Tuesday. The same day, the State Department revoked at least six visas of foreigners over criticism of Kirk.

The Massachusetts school districts that have announced such disciplinary moves cite concerns over such issues as student safety, the potential distress caused by insensitive and inflammatory comments, and the need for maintaining institutional values.

But is this legal?

The short answer on school discipline, according to First Amendment advocates, may be no.

“The murder of Charlie Kirk was a tragedy. Government officials should not exploit that tragedy, however, to censor political speech they don’t like,” said Alex Abdo, litigation director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.

Free speech protections can be limited if the speech could damage or disrupt the workplace, First Amendment experts said. But in such cases, school officials and the courts must weigh whether any potential damage outweighs the speech’s value.

That damage could include a teacher’s inability to interact with colleagues after a post, lead a class, or interact with parents and students, as well as whether students feel safe and supported, First Amendment specialists said.

Speech that causes some disruption isn’t enough to limit freedom of speech, said Justin Silverman, executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition, a nonprofit advocacy organization. “I can’t overstate how much protection political speech is given by the First Amendment,” he said.

What has the crackdown entailed?

President Trump has also applied pressure on those who have made public statements that he opposes, from media companies and law firms to entertainers including Jimmy Kimmel. Last month, Trump also suggested TV networks should have their licenses taken away because they “give me only bad publicity.”

Last month, a federal judge in Massachusetts criticized the Trump administration’s crackdown on the free speech rights of foreign students who were demonstrating in support of Palestinian rights.

And last week, Trump falsely claimed that he “took the freedom of speech away” for people who burn the US flag, saying he made doing so a crime.

What’s next?

It’s unclear how Trump’s crackdown on freedom of speech will affect the nation’s schools long term.

Death threats and promises of violence have escalated against American educators after Kirk’s death, according to officials with the Massachusetts Teachers Association, which said it is watching these free speech cases closely. Last week, a Rutgers professor who studies antifascism fled the country after death threats.

And Trump has made a point of tightening control over the nation’s public education system, including its K-12 schools. That has included a crackdown on issues including rights for transgender students and elimination of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. And Trump has pressured universities to sign agreements pledging they’ll go along with his priorities, or risk losing federal funding. (Brown University rejected that pledge yesterday, joining MIT.)

In schools, students would benefit by protecting free speech, argued Jeffrey Pyle, a First Amendment lawyer and partner at Prince Lobel in Boston.

“I think the public and students benefit when their teachers are willing to talk about public issues, even if it means they might be misunderstood or they might be offended,” he said.

Points of Interest

Boston: The city will slightly reposition its iconic CITGO sign in Kenmore Square as part of a redevelopment project. Mayor Michelle Wu called it an effort “to preserve this iconic sign for generations to come.”

New England: Vermont officials of both parties called for a GOP state senator, who is also the state’s Young Republicans chair, to resign over racist comments he allegedly made in a private group chat.