The decision to rescind an offer to Emily Suski to take the helm of the University of Arkansas School of Law violates Suski’s First Amendment rights.

That’s the view from Holly Dickson, executive director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas. Dickson made a statement Thursday making the case that it was not a question of Suski’s competence, but instead viewpoint discrimination, that jettisoned the job offer.

The controversy seemingly arises from a lawsuit over the rights of transgender athletes, in which Suski lent her expertise. But Suski’s interpretation of the rights of transgender athletes runs counter to the hyper-conservative Christian cabal that currently runs the state Capitol.

“If state officials can threaten to cut funding because they dislike a professor’s legal analysis, then no public employee in Arkansas is safe to speak freely,” Dickson’s statement said. “Under this logic, any public worker could be punished for expressing a belief unless it has first been approved by politicians. That is not governance — it is ideological control.”

People close to the story report that lawmakers threatened to defund the law school if Suski was allowed to take the helm. That tracks with the Arkansas Legislature’s ongoing campaign to ostracize and shame transgender people by blocking their access to gender-affirming care, barring teachers from respecting their students’ preferred names and pronouns and revoking the option to choose “X”, rather than “M” or “F”, as a gender marker on state-issued IDs.

Here’s Dickson’s full statement:

ACLU of Arkansas Statement on Unconstitutional Political Interference in University of Arkansas Law Dean Hiring

LITTLE ROCK – The following statement was issued by Holly Dickson, Executive Director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas in response to reports of political interference in the University of Arkansas School of Law’s selection of a new dean:

We are deeply troubled by reports that the University of Arkansas is terminating the newly hired Professor Emily Suski as Dean of the University of Arkansas School of Law after a two-year national search — not because she was unqualified, but because she exercised her First Amendment rights in a court of law.

That is not just wrong. It is unconstitutional.

Professor Suski was selected after an exhaustive hiring process. Her academic work and public scholarship were fully known. Like law professors across the country, she signed an amicus brief — not as a party, not as an advocate for a client, but as a legal scholar offering analysis of legal doctrine. That kind of speech is not unusual. It is not controversial. It is core academic expression and among the most protected forms of speech under the First Amendment.

Let’s be clear: This has nothing to do with competence or fitness to lead. It has everything to do with viewpoint.

If state officials can threaten to cut funding because they dislike a professor’s legal analysis, then no public employee in Arkansas is safe to speak freely. Under this logic, any public worker could be punished for expressing a belief unless it has first been approved by politicians. That is not governance — it is ideological control.

This action is retaliatory, full stop. And it is impossible to believe this outcome would have occurred had Professor Suski signed a brief on the other side of the issue.

The implications are staggering. This sends a chilling message to every faculty member: stay silent or risk your career. It tells future educators to look elsewhere. It damages the credibility of the University of Arkansas School of Law and its ability to function as a serious institution committed to independent thought and rigorous legal education.

If this precedent stands, it will not stop here. What is done to one person today can be done to anyone tomorrow, when political power changes hands. That is exactly why the First Amendment exists.

This is an attempt to carve out the heart of the First Amendment and replace it with political loyalty tests. Every faculty member, student, alumnus, and Arkansan who values free expression should be demanding answers — and accountability.

The ACLU of Arkansas stands firmly with Professor Suski and calls on the University of Arkansas to reverse course, reject political interference, and recommit to the constitutional principles universities are meant to defend, not discard.