{"id":2523341,"date":"2025-12-19T16:16:02","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T21:16:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-upholds-profs-right-to-make-fun-of-land-acknowledgments\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T16:17:56","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T21:17:56","slug":"court-upholds-profs-right-to-make-fun-of-land-acknowledgments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-upholds-profs-right-to-make-fun-of-land-acknowledgments\/","title":{"rendered":"Court Upholds Prof&#8217;s Right To Make Fun Of Land Acknowledgments"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcourt-upholds-profs-right-to-make-fun-of-land-acknowledgments%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2523341&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled that the University of Washington violated a professor&#8217;s First Amendment rights by punishing him for mocking the university&#8217;s policy on &#8220;land acknowledgments&#8221; in his syllabus. The professor, Stuart Reges, criticized the land acknowledgment statement that the university required-one that credits certain Native American tribes with ownership of the land-and argued that the tribes had little claim based on the labor theory of property. His <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/reactions-mixed-to-floating-island-of-garbage-in-pennsylvania-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Re... mixed to \u2018floating island of garbage\u2019 in Pennsylvania - ... Examiner\">statement sparked backlash<\/a> among students and staff, leading the university to investigate and reprimand him, actions which the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/manchin-under-pressure-to-tank-biden-health-care-nominee\/\" title=\"Manchin Under Pressure to Tank Biden Health Care Nominee\">court found unconstitutional<\/a>.The ruling reverses a lower court decision supporting the university and sends the case back to determine appropriate remedies. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) represented Reges in the lawsuit. The <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >case highlights ongoing debates<\/a> about free speech, academic freedom, and controversial diversity policies in higher education.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thefire.org\/research-learn\/photos-university-washington-plaintiff-stuart-reges\">Twinkle Don&#8217;t Blink \/ FIRE<\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/19\/9th-circuit-protects-professors-first-amendment-right-to-make-fun-of-land-acknowledgments\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=9th%20Circuit%20Protects%20Professor%E2%80%99s%20First%20Amendment%20Right%20To%20Make%20Fun%20Of%20Land%20Acknowledgments&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/19\/9th-circuit-protects-professors-first-amendment-right-to-make-fun-of-land-acknowledgments\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=9th%20Circuit%20Protects%20Professor%E2%80%99s%20First%20Amendment%20Right%20To%20Make%20Fun%20Of%20Land%20Acknowledgments&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/19\/9th-circuit-protects-professors-first-amendment-right-to-make-fun-of-land-acknowledgments\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/19\/9th-circuit-protects-professors-first-amendment-right-to-make-fun-of-land-acknowledgments\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=9th%20Circuit%20Protects%20Professor%E2%80%99s%20First%20Amendment%20Right%20To%20Make%20Fun%20Of%20Land%20Acknowledgments&amp;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/19\/9th-circuit-protects-professors-first-amendment-right-to-make-fun-of-land-acknowledgments\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled Friday that the University of Washington is not allowed to punish a professor for making fun of the &ldquo;land acknowledgments&rdquo; they tried to force on their staff.<\/p>\n<p>The win at the circuit level comes after the district court sided with the school.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1964621694\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&ldquo;A public university investigated, reprimanded, and threatened to discipline a professor for contentious statements he made in a class syllabus. The statements, which mocked the university&rsquo;s model syllabus statement on an issue of public concern, caused offense in the university community,&rdquo; Judge Danial Bress, an appointee of President Donald Trump, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thefire.org\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/12\/Opinion%20-%20Reges%20v.%20Cauce%2C%20et%20al..pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a> in the majority opinion. &ldquo;Yet debate and disagreement are hallmarks of higher education. Student discomfort with a professor&rsquo;s views can prompt discussion and disapproval. But this discomfort is not grounds for the university retaliating against the professor. We hold that the university&rsquo;s actions toward the professor violated his First Amendment rights.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The court found that the school subjected computer science professor Stuart Reges to punitive employment actions and reprimand, based entirely on his speech disagreeing with their policy.<\/p>\n<p>In 2019, when schools, corporations, politicians, and many others were partaking in their performative (and utterly embarrassing) &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/employee-civil-rights-protections-at-risk-under-ai-dei-hiring-discrimination-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Employee civil rights protections at risk under AI DEI hiring discrimination - ... Examiner\">racial reckoning&#038;rdquo<\/a>; overtures, the University of Washington adopted a policy recommending professors put a &ldquo;land acknowledgment&rdquo; on their course syllabi.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Land acknowledgments&rdquo; are meant to falsely state that, in actuality, Europeans did not build any of the United States of America, and that the land is still owned by the American Indian tribes that were once there.<\/p>\n<p>The school even offered model language: &ldquo;The University of Washington acknowledges the Coast Salish peoples of this land, the land which touches the shared waters of all tribes and bands within the Suquamish, Tulalip and Muckleshoot nations.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Reges took the opportunity to point out how absurd that statement, while noting that none of those tribes can claim any land, because they did not build anything close to civilization on it.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I acknowledge that by the labor theory of property, the Coast Salish people can claim historical ownership of almost none of the land currently occupied by the University of Washington,&rdquo;&nbsp;Reges&rsquo; 2022 version of the statement in his syllabus read.<\/p>\n<p>Faculty, staff, and students went into a frenzy of despair over Reges&rsquo; statement, with some administrators <a href=\"https:\/\/seattlered.com\/education\/uw-lawsuit-land-acknowledgment\/4115702\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">calling<\/a> it &ldquo;offensive&rdquo; and others <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courthousenews.com\/washington-professor-claims-free-speech-rights-over-schools-removal-of-mock-land-acknowledgement\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">whining<\/a> on social media.<\/p>\n<p>According to Courthouse News Service, Judge Milan Smith, an appointee of President George W. Bush, said, &ldquo;As I read these briefs. I was struck by how sensitive the students or others were. Some people would call it &lsquo;woke,&rsquo; &mdash; they call whatever they want &mdash; but the reality is you&rsquo;ve got people who were upset.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The school asked Reges to remove the statement, then removed it without his consent, and ultimately opened a punitive &ldquo;harassment&rdquo; investigation into him after he refused to remove it, finding that Reges created an &ldquo;immediate and significant disruption.&rdquo; The school also created a competing class in order to lure students away from Reges&rsquo; class and point them toward a professor who would regurgitate the &ldquo;land acknowledgment&rdquo; statement.<\/p>\n<p>The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) represented Reges in the lawsuit, and the 9th Circuit has sent it back to the district court to determine the proper remedy for Reges.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Breccan F. Thies is the White House correspondent for The Federalist. He <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pa-court-rules-improperly-dated-mail-ballots-must-be-counted\/\" title=\"PA ... Rules Improperly Dated Mail Ballots Must Be Counted\">previously covered education<\/a> and culture issues for the Washington Examiner and Breitbart News. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Breccan F. Thies<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreccanFThies\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@BreccanFThies<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/breccan-thies\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/9th-circuit-court-of-appeals\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">9th Circuit Court of Appeals<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/daniel-bress\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Daniel Bress<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Donald Trump<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/education-2\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">education<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/fire\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Fire<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/first-amendment\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">First Amendment<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/foundation-for-individual-rights-and-expression\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/free-speech\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">free speech<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/land-acknowledgments\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">land acknowledgments<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/milan-smith\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Milan Smith<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/stuart-reges\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Stuart Reges<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/university-of-washington\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">University of Washington<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>9th Circuit: UW can&#8217;t punish professor mocking land acknowledgments<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":179,"featured_media":2523342,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/stuart-reges-05.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[42513,33740,32311,69127,32870],"class_list":["post-2523341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-academic-freedom","tag-court-ruling","tag-free-speech","tag-land-acknowledgments","tag-satire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/stuart-reges-05.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2523341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/179"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2523341"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2523341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2523345,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2523341\/revisions\/2523345"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2523342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2523341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2523341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2523341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}