Update: Court reinstates student government leader removed for Catholic beliefs: ‘unconstitutional retaliation’

Earlier this month, a federal judge ordered Florida State University to pay Jack Denton his salary as student senate president after the student government removed him for privately stating Catholic beliefs. But the judge refused to reinstate Denton to his position, finding that he was so loathed by his colleagues for his religious views that he couldn’t effectively serve as president.

The Student Supreme Court at FSU had other ideas. In a ruling Monday, the five justices overturned the June 5 vote of no-confidence and ordered Denton’s reinstatement as senate president, finding him the victim of “unconstitutional retaliation.”

The “long-term interest in protecting the values of the First Amendment” is “undeniable,” the court said: If it didn’t reinstate Denton (above), “the message this sends on behalf of our Student Government Association, as well as our University, is that some views are okay to share, and some are not.”

Without mentioning U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor’s order, the Student Supreme Court explicitly rejected Winsor’s reasoning that Denton’s reinstatement could produce “tumult and chaos” in the student government.