Identity of Speakers
-
Bruce Gilley
Faculty/Staff
OtherProfessor of political science
Resources
Additional Information
-
Incident Nature:
Social media
-
Incident Political Orientation:
Right wing -
Incident Responses:
Litigation
-
Incident Status:
In litigation Federal District Court
In litigation Federal Court of Appeals
Settled
Appealed
- Was Speech Code incident
Summary
A federal judge found that the University of Oregon likely violated the First Amendment when it temporarily blocked Portland State University professor Bruce Gilley from its Division of Equity and Inclusion Twitter account. The incident stemmed from a June 2023 exchange in which the university’s account shared a prompt encouraging followers to challenge perceived racist comments by saying: “It sounded like you just said ______. Is that really what you meant?” Gilley retweeted the post and filled in the blank with: “My entry:…you just said ‘all men are created equal.’” The response, referencing a foundational phrase from the Declaration of Independence, appeared to satirize or challenge the university’s framing of racism, consistent with Gilley’s public criticism of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. A university communications manager blocked Gilley’s account, stating she believed his comment was off-topic.
The court declined to issue a preliminary injunction, finding that the university was unlikely to repeat the conduct and had already unblocked Gilley after the lawsuit was filed. Nonetheless, the judge allowed Gilley’s claims for past constitutional violations to proceed, citing serious legal questions and evidence of viewpoint discrimination. The university’s communications office subsequently reminded staff that blocking users based on viewpoint was not permitted. Although Gilley had sought only $17.91 in nominal damages (symbolizing the ratification year of the First Amendment) the judge ruled that his claim was not moot unless the university formally accepted judgment.
As part of a partial resolution, the court ordered the University of Oregon to pay $191,000 in attorney’s fees. The court held that Gilley had substantially prevailed by successfully challenging the university’s handling of protected speech on a public-facing platform. While the university attempted to resolve the matter with a symbolic cash payment, the judge emphasized that constitutional claims could not be dismissed without acknowledgment of a violation.
