NY Times: “The Texas branch of the American Federation of Teachers sued the state’s education agency in federal court on Tuesday, challenging investigations against scores of teachers in the state over comments they made after the killing of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The union’s lawsuit was among the first to oppose a broad effort by conservatives on social media, and some Republican state leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, to punish educators and others who criticized Mr. Kirk or his views in the aftermath of his killing Sept. 10.
In the lawsuit, the union argues that the state’s education department, the Texas Education Agency, violated the free speech rights of public school teachers by directing state officials and school districts to investigate comments about Mr. Kirk made mostly on their own private social media accounts and outside of work.
The state’s policy represents an “unconstitutional viewpoint-based restriction on speech,” the lawsuit argues.”