There is accountability when government officials violate a citizen’s fundamental rights.
Earlier this week, the US Supreme Court voted 8-1 to uphold the First Amendment protections of freedom of speech and religious liberty in case of Chike Uzuegbunam, a former Georgia Gwinnett College student. Officials at the public university twice stopped Chike from sharing the Gospel and exercising his right to peaceful free speech on campus.
Justice Clarence Thomas, who authored the majority opinion, stated “[I]t is undisputed that Uzuegbunam experienced a completed violation of his constitutional rights when respondents enforced their speech policies against him. Because ‘every violation [of a right] imports damage’ … nominal damages can redress Uzuegbunam’s injury even if he cannot or chooses not to quantify that harm in economic terms.”
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