Swatting Flies With An A-Bomb, or: Legal Twitter Really Sucks

Hmm. Good question.
Here’s my take, informed by the Pickering-Connick-Garrcetti test, discussed in the attached post.

/1https://t.co/dGgEPZ7lyb

— OwMyPopehat (@Popehat) September 16, 2021

First, you're non-tenure track. Do you want the Provost noticing you? I don't.  And First part b):  this is, in the grand scheme of things, pretty small beer.  No one, after all, is being told how to teach "Beowulf" or the importance of the sonnet to Freshman composition.  Is this, in other words, the hill you want to die on?

Second: yeah, there may be a 1st Amendment issue here, but if you never want to work in academia again, make your case in court. Good luck paying for it, by the way. You'll need your savings to pay the rent/mortgage while you find a job not in academia, because you are now toast. Burnt, not buttered.

Third:  well, third is just a reiteration of "First" and "Second."  I haven't checked Mr. Wild's Twitter bio, but he mentions teaching at "UT" in a reply tweet, which could mean Tennessee or Texas (I think they even have basically the same school colors).  I know neither state is exactly mask/vaccine friendly at the moment, and the Provost in either state would understandably be looking for any sparks leading to brushfires of discontent over issues that should be anonymous but will rage into headlines and people screaming on Twitter (it's a thing now).

So I'm not sure anyone's First Amendment rights are being squashed here, so much as the Powers-That-Be don't want any shitstorms they don't have to put up with.  If people could vaccinate this pandemic would go away.  The Administration of the university can't control that, but they can control things that look innocuous to the teacher (it would to me) which are guaranteed to start a fire.  These days, a BIG fire.

/6 Now, the school can forbid the prof from suggesting the poll is endorsed by the school or a reflection of school policy. But I don’t think a public university can lawfully prohibit a professor from exploring, through a poll or other speech, the students’ views.

— OwMyPopehat (@Popehat) September 16, 2021

You're a non-tenure track lecturer. You'll be making that argument from the street. You win; you also lose. I'm pretty sure Popehat is aware of that reality. Running through the analysis is one thing (I understand that compulsion all too well). Leading to the conclusion "Sure, defend your rights! You're an American!"? No, not a good idea at all. It is, to the lecturer, a de minimus injury at worst. The greater injury is thinking your First Amendment rights will save you.

They won't; not in this circumstance.  And knowing a legal opinion from some guy on Twitter says the school is wrong here?  Honestly, doesn't help all that much.  Some things are really better left unanswered.