Fascist Bastard Suing College

In a lawsuit filed by the Alliance Defense Fund against the Los Angeles Community College District, the conservative Christian group claims that a student at Los Angeles City College had his First Amendment rights violated when his speech teacher called him a “fascist bastard” for giving a presentation on his Christian beliefs. The ADF alleges that Jonathan Lopez innocently pointed out the dictionary definition of the word “marriage” and read two Bible verses before Prof. John Matteson yelled at him. Matteson allegedly refused to give Lopez a grade for the speech, suggesting that Lopez instead “ask God what your grade is”. If you’re wondering how being yelled at by a teacher for being a bigoted dick is in any way a violation of First Amendment rights, I’m right with you. At the most, it’s a case of teacher misconduct that could easily be handled by the school without the need for a lawsuit. But spokespeople for L.A. City College say Lopez has refused to fill out the proper complaints that would lead to disciplinary action against Matteson. And according to other students in the classroom at the time, Lopez’s speech was a preachy mess that fell well outside the assignment. Assuming Matteson did call Lopez a “fascist bastard” and refused to give him a grade, the professor probably needs to be fired. But that doesn’t mean he’s wrong. More details here.