By By Anna B. Mitchell and Christian Boshult

Copyright postandcourier

Vaughn’s complaint, filed late Sept. 18 in federal court, is the first of its kind in South Carolina since Kirk’s death and likely among the first — if not the first — in the nation, legal observers said.

It comes at a pivotal moment, as the nation needs clarity on the scope of First Amendment protections in the age of social media, said Patrick Kelly, director of government affairs for the Palmetto State Teachers Association.

Specifically, educators and districts need to know how and when online comments, even if made off campus and on an employee’s own time, might disrupt educational environments — and, therefore, are not protected by the First Amendment, he said.

“Our case law has not caught up to the evolution of the public square through social media,” said Kelly, who also teaches an AP U.S. History class.

Reached for comment early Sept. 19, District 5 communications director Melissa Robinette said her district has not received a copy of Vaughn’s lawsuit and could not comment.

Vaughn’s firing

In her post, Vaughn quoted one of Kirk’s own statements about the tradeoff between gun deaths and Second Amendment rights, and clarified in the comments section that the shooting was “a tragedy.”

According to the suit, she posted “‘I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second amendment to protect our other God-given Rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational.’ – Charlie Kirk. Thoughts and prayers.”

That particular quote from Kirk was shared widely on social media at the time, with some posters trying to highlight the irony in the wake of his shooting death and others trying to use it to call attention to gun violence to advocate for gun control measures.

The lawsuit puts Vaughn in the latter group. She said in the comments section of her post that she felt “no satisfaction here. Just heartbreak for anyone and everyone affected by gun violence and a hope that one day, enough will be enough. At the end of the day, all want the same thing—for everyone to be safe in their school, home, church, in a public place, at a rally or event, or just out in public.”