Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Richard Lowery v. Lillian Mills, Dean of the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, et al.
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, No. 24-50879 · judgment October 31, 2025
Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.
Question presented
University of Texas officials threatened Professor Richard Lowery with reduced pay, loss of a research post, and other consequences, if he did not stop publicly criticizing the UT administration. Wishing to avoid those outcomes, Lowery self-censored. In ten circuits, employer threats suffice to establish a § 1983 First Amendment retaliation claim if they would dissuade a reasonable employee from speaking. But the Fifth Circuit is one of two outlier courts that require a completed adverse action, such as a discharge, demotion, or reprimand, before an employee can state a retaliation claim—employer threats, no matter how credible or severe, are never enough. The question presented is whether a public employer’s threats against an employee can suffice to establish a First Amendment retaliation claim, if those threats would dissuade a reasonable employee from speaking on a matter of public importance.
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Endel Rohe Kolde
Institute for Free Speech
For respondent
Jeffrey L. Oldham
Jackson Walker LLP
Case
Subject area
First Amendment (estimated from the questions presented, in the Supreme Court Database’s categories)
Conference history
Distributed for 2 conferences
Amicus briefs
5 cert-stage
Order
Order list, June 29, 2026 · Certiorari denied
Proceedings
- Jun 29 2026Petition DENIED.
- Jun 12 2026Reply of petitioner Richard Lowery filed. (Distributed)
- Jun 09 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/25/2026.
- Jun 02 2026Brief of respondents Lillian Mills, et al. in opposition filed.
- May 27 2026Waiver of the 14-day waiting period for the distribution of the petition pursuant to Rule 15.5 filed by petitioner.
- Apr 27 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including June 2, 2026, for all respondents.
- Apr 24 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response from May 26, 2026 to June 2, 2026, submitted to The Clerk.
- Mar 30 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including May 26, 2026, for all respondents.
- Mar 27 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response from April 23, 2026 to May 26, 2026, submitted to The Clerk.
- Mar 24 2026Response Requested. (Due April 23, 2026)
- Mar 17 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/2/2026.
- Mar 09 2026Brief amicus curiae of Institute for Justice filed.
- Mar 09 2026Brief amicus curiae of Alliance Defending Freedom filed.
- Mar 09 2026Waiver of right of respondent Lillian Mills, et al. to respond filed.
- Mar 09 2026Brief amicus curiae of Manhattan Institute filed.
- Mar 09 2026Brief amici curiae of First Amendment Scholars filed.
- Mar 09 2026Brief amici curiae of Protect the First Foundation, et al. filed.
- Feb 03 2026Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due March 9, 2026)