The Preston Damsky case is a federal First Amendment lawsuit brought by a former University of Florida Levin College of Law student who was expelled in August 2025 over antisemitic and white nationalist social media posts and academic writings. Damsky sued UF and Dean of Students Chris Summerlin in September 2025, briefly won a court order reinstating him, lost that order on appeal, and went to trial before U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor in May 2026. A ruling is pending after post-trial briefs were due June 26, 2026.
The Posts and Papers Behind the Expulsion
In spring 2024, while enrolled at UF’s law school, Damsky wrote a seminar paper titled “National Constitutionalism.” It argued that the Constitution’s “We the People” clause referred only to white Americans, called for disenfranchising non-white citizens, and advocated “shoot-to-kill orders” for non-white migrants.1Duke Law School. University of Florida Levin College of Law: Preston Damsky
In early 2025, his posts on X drew wider attention. He identified himself as an antisemite and white nationalist, described Jewish people as “parasitizing the West,” and called them the “common enemy of humanity.”1Duke Law School. University of Florida Levin College of Law: Preston Damsky On March 21, 2025, he wrote: “My position on Jews is simple: whatever . . . Noel Ignatiev meant . . . by his call to ‘abolish the White race by any means necessary’ is what I think must be done with Jews. Jews must be abolished by any means necessary.”2Justia. Federal Lawsuit by Preston Damsky Highlights Challenges Faced by Public Universities A Jewish law professor, Lyrissa Lidsky, replied publicly, asking whether he was calling for the murder of her and her family. Damsky responded by questioning whether Ignatiev’s original words were “as objectionable.”
What UF Did
On April 3, 2025, the university issued a three-year trespass warning barring Damsky from campus, citing safety concerns and a hostile environment.1Duke Law School. University of Florida Levin College of Law: Preston Damsky The law school suspended him and charged him with “Disruptive Conduct” and “Harassment: Threats, intimidation, Coercion” under the student code.2Justia. Federal Lawsuit by Preston Damsky Highlights Challenges Faced by Public Universities After an administrative hearing, Dean Summerlin adopted the disciplinary board’s recommendation and expelled him in August 2025, calling the posts and seminar papers “threatening and disruptive” and noting Damsky had declined to retract his statements.3FindLaw. Damsky v. Summerlin
The Lawsuit
On September 14, 2025, Damsky filed suit against UF and Summerlin in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, alleging his expulsion and the trespass order violated the First Amendment.1Duke Law School. University of Florida Levin College of Law: Preston Damsky He seeks reinstatement. He is represented by Anthony Sabatini, a UF law graduate and former Republican state representative.4Gainesville Sun. Expelled University of Florida Student Contests Free Speech in Trial
Sabatini has argued the posts, while offensive, are political speech that does not meet the legal standards for a “true threat” or “material and substantial disruption” of campus operations. He has described them at various points as “basically trolling” and “not literal or targeted.”5WUFT. Free Speech or Threat of Violence: US Judge Hears Arguments Over UF Law Student’s Expulsion He has also alleged the university relied on irrelevant evidence at the expulsion hearing, including the seminar paper and a T-shirt Damsky wore reading “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”4Gainesville Sun. Expelled University of Florida Student Contests Free Speech in Trial
UF has countered that the rhetoric created a genuine safety threat. Faculty and students testified that the posts caused Jewish students and faculty to fear for their physical safety, miss classes, and struggle to study.6Gainesville Sun. University of Florida Defends Law Student’s Expulsion at Trial
The Injunction, Then the Reversal
On November 24, 2025, Judge Winsor granted a preliminary injunction ordering UF to reinstate Damsky by December 1, 2025, on a $2,500 bond. Applying Counterman v. Colorado, the judge found the posts were not “true threats” because they lacked “personal, targeted imminence”: no specific targets, locations, or times were mentioned. He noted Damsky had explicitly tied the phrases “abolish” and “any means necessary” to the writings of Harvard professor Noel Ignatiev, framing them as “hyperbolic and coarse expression of political opinion.” Even assuming the Tinker v. Des Moines standard for student speech applied, the court found the posts were not a “school-directed threat” because they did not mention UF, its administrators, or its students.3FindLaw. Damsky v. Summerlin
UF appealed. The Eleventh Circuit issued an administrative stay on December 3, 2025, and on January 8, 2026, a divided panel formally stayed the injunction. The two-judge majority held the statements were “likely not protected by the First Amendment” and cited a “strong public interest” in mitigating campus violence. Judge Kevin Newsom dissented, calling the speech “repugnant and hateful” but concluding it did not meet the legal threshold of a “true threat.”7Reuters. Student, Professor Face Setbacks in Law School Free Speech Cases The stay kept Damsky off campus while the case proceeded. On February 3, 2026, UF petitioned the full Eleventh Circuit to overturn the preliminary injunction entirely.1Duke Law School. University of Florida Levin College of Law: Preston Damsky
The May 2026 Trial and What Comes Next
A two-day federal trial began May 27, 2026, before Judge Winsor in Gainesville.4Gainesville Sun. Expelled University of Florida Student Contests Free Speech in Trial Sabatini argued the campus disruption only materialized after Professor Lidsky responded publicly, and that “abolish” could be read as a call for deportation rather than violence. He also introduced screenshots showing law students reacting to Damsky’s departure with laughing and heart emojis, arguing this showed students were seeking “vengeance” rather than acting out of fear.6Gainesville Sun. University of Florida Defends Law Student’s Expulsion at Trial
University officials and faculty testified in support of the expulsion. Testimony wrapped on May 28, 2026. Judge Winsor ordered final briefs by June 26, 2026, and will issue a ruling after reviewing them.6Gainesville Sun. University of Florida Defends Law Student’s Expulsion at Trial
Why the Case Matters
The dispute has drawn attention because it presses on an unresolved question in First Amendment law: whether the Tinker standard, developed for K-12 students, applies to adult university students in the same way. The Eleventh, Tenth, Sixth, and First Circuits have applied Tinker to universities with varying modifications; the Ninth and Third Circuits have been more skeptical, pointing to differences in maturity and independence.8SCOTUSblog. The First Amendment’s Application to Public University Students: An Explainer The Supreme Court has not set a formal framework for university student speech, though Justice Samuel Alito, concurring in Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L., suggested the “age, independence, and living arrangements” of university students may call for a different approach.
The core question Judge Winsor now has to answer is whether hateful political rhetoric aimed at a group, phrased in general terms and framed as a reference to another writer’s words, crosses into an unprotected true threat or material disruption when it reaches a specific campus community. The district court and the Eleventh Circuit panel majority saw that question differently on the preliminary record. The trial ruling will decide it on a full one.