From the opinion released Oct. 21, 2025:

In the wake of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, an Emory professor posted certain comments about the assassination on social media—first writing "Good riddance," and then writing that they "[didn't] feel bad" about the assassination and that Kirk "seem[ed] like a disgusting individual." The Emory administration, characterizing these comments as celebrating and inciting violence, terminated the professor.

The Committee for Open Expression finds that most of the reasons given by Emory for the termination are inconsistent with Emory's Open Expression Policy (Policy 8.14).

The only potentially valid reason is the professor's initial denial of having made the first of the two statements; but this seems unlikely to have been a deliberate lie, and so

See Full Page