Conservative student to be paid $80k from university in censorship lawsuit

A Christian student is expected to be paid $80,000 from Southern Illinois University after she filed a lawsuit against the school, alleging it violated her civil and constitutional rights by punishing her for her outspoken conservative viewpoints, which differed from most of her fellow students. 

She was represented by a legal team at Alliance Defending Freedom, which announced the university settled the lawsuit for $80,000.

“Public universities can’t punish students for expressing their political and religious viewpoints. Maggie, like every other student, is protected under the First Amendment to respectfully share her personal beliefs, and university officials were wrong to issue gag orders and silence her speech,” said attorney Mathew Hoffmann of Alliance Defending Freedom in a press release earlier this week.

Three professors will take mandatory First Amendment training as a result of the settlement, according to The Daily Wire.

DeJong said in the lawsuit that Southern Illinois University (SIU) launched an investigation into her and ordered three “no contact” orders against her after other students complained about her conservative views, referring to them as “harmful” and “harassment.” 

“Maggie wasn’t given a chance to defend herself," her legal team wrote when the suit first came about last year. "When they issued the orders, university officials didn’t even tell her what the allegations against her were, and they did not identify a single law, policy, or rule that she had violated. That’s because she hadn’t violated any."

SIU Chancellor James Minor has acknowledged the settlement in a statement:

The university "is unequivocally committed to protecting First Amendment rights and does not have policies that restrict free speech nor support censorship.”