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by WILL FOLKS
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South Carolina attorney general Alan Wilson sent a letter to Clemson University on Monday morning (September 15, 2025) alerting the embattled institution that his office would not prosecute school officials under an antiquated statute which appears to criminalize the firing of employees for “political expression.”
Clemson is facing sustained outrage from conservatives and establish Republicans in South Carolina over its ongoing refusal to fire multiple employees who have engaged in speech which celebrates and encourages political violence. School officials believe they are prohibited from firing the employees by an antiquated state law.
The decades-old statute – first reported by FITSNews – is at odds with the Palmetto State’s right-to-work status. Meanwhile, Clemson’s broad interpretation of it appears to be at odds with subsequent court rulings significantly narrowing its scope.
As we reported last week, S.C. Code of Laws § 16-17-560 prohibits an employer from “discharg(ing) a citizen from employment or occupation” based on “political opinions or the exercise of political rights and privileges guaranteed to every citizen by the Constitution and laws of the United States or by the Constitution and laws of this State.”
Clemson has privately cited this statute to GOP politicians as a basis for its ongoing refusing to fire employees who have glorified and celebrated last week’s shocking, politically motivated assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk – and called for additional violence against conservatives.
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According to Wilson’s letter (.pdf) to Clemson president James Clements, “the termination of these Clemson employees is not a prosecutable offense” under the statute.
“As South Carolina’s chief prosecutor, I have determined that any corrective action by Clemson, (including) terminating these professors, will not be prosecuted in the criminal courts of this state,” Wilson wrote. “Nor will it be for such action by any other institution of higher learning in South Carolina.”
According to Wilson, a 1983 supreme court ruling – Connick v. Myers – held that the right of public employees to voice their opinions must “not be outweighed by any injury the speech could cause to ‘the interest of the state, as an employer in promoting the efficiency of the public service it performs through its employees.'”
Wilson further added that “true threats of imminent violence lie outside the protections of the First Amendment.”
South Carolina’s statute has been on the books for at least 75 years, however a 2019 court of appeals ruling (Owens v. ADC Engineering) concluded its protections extended “only to matters directly related to the executive, legislative, and administrative branches of government, such as political party affiliation, political campaign contributions, and the right to vote.”
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RELATED | WHY ISN’T CLEMSON FIRING FAR LEFT FACULTY & STAFF?
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Wilson argued university leaders have “both the duty and the authority to maintain the high standards of their institutions.”
“Fear of criminal prosecution should not deter the President of a state university, such as Clemson, from taking the appropriate corrective action against university employees for such vile and incendiary comments on a public platform,” Wilson’s letter continued. “Criminal prosecution of Clemson officials for doing their duty – as they see it – is hardly the appropriate means to protect any rights of free speech these Clemson professors may have in saying what they said.”
“The First Amendment protects freedom of speech, but it does not shield threats, glorification of violence, or behavior that undermines the mission of our state institutions,” Wilson said in a statement accompanying the letter. “Clemson, and any state university in South Carolina, should not be paralyzed by fear of prosecution when dealing with employees who publicly endorse political violence.”
Clemson’s board is scheduled to meet on Monday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. EDT – a “special called” meeting.
Keep it tuned to FITSNews for the latest on the fallout from that meeting…
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THE LETTER…
(S.C. Attorney General)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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7 comments
“The decades-old statute – first reported by FITSNews ”
The decades-old statute was a well kept secret until Fizzynews “reported” it? GTFO.
You don’t have to go very far to find Alan Wilson unwilling to enforce the law!
And despite Wilson’s letter, Clemson will now perform a flaming double somersault with a sword clenched in its teeth, then pole vault through razor wire and over a pit of cobras to find another reason not to fire these anti-Christian, communist revolutionaries. Clemson, despite its location and alumni, is not in any way a conservative leaning institution. It is a captured, hardened citadel, a prize of the marxist left’s intelligencia and propaganda arms. They feign moderation when conservative state political leaders come to call or examine their requests for funding, but just like USC, behind closed doors their faculty sneers at and abhors the common citizenry of the state.
Well that little theory of yours kind of got thrown out the window this morning didn’t it…
Why do Trumptards like you always have to prove how fucking stupid they are?
That letter does not “clear” anything.
It does not direct Clemson.
It does not have the force of law.
It simply grandstands another issue that he had nothing to do with yet he takes credit.
The Wilson Campaign activities simply are not credible and will not stand up to scrutiny.
What fascist moron Alan Wilson fails to comprehend is that state employees are protected from government retaliation for exercising their First Amendment rights by 42 U.S.C. 1983, which creates a cause of action against state actors who knowingly violate constitutional rights of state employees. While Clemson may not be criminally prosecution for violating its employees First Amendment rights, it can be held civilly liable for compensatory and punitive damages, as well as attorney fees. Any Clemson or other state employee who is fired for exercising their First Amendment rights should immediately contact an attorney who specializes in employment and civil rights law.