No. 25-6802

Emir James Phillips v. Board of Curators of Lincoln University, fka Lincoln University, et al.

Lower Court: Eighth Circuit
Docketed: 2026-02-13
Status: Pending
Type: IFP
IFP
Tags: None
Latest Conference: N/A
Question Presented (from Petition)

1. Compelled alteration I nullification of academic-dishonesty grades.
Whether compelled alteration or administrative nullification of a professor 's final
academic-dishonesty grade is speech "related to scholarship or teaching " that falls
outside Garcetti's "official duties " rule and is therefore subject to Pickering v. Bd.
of Educ., 391 U.S. 563 (1968), and Connick v. Myers, 461 U.S. 138 (1983)
balancing —and to this Court 's compelled-speech limits when the professor 's
endorsement is required.

2. State-created entitlements and "follow-your-own-rules. "
Whether public-university policies and handbooks that expressly delegate final
academic-dishonesty grading to faculty create a state-law entitlement the
institution must honor under Roth, Sindermann, and the Accardi "follow-your-
own-rules " principle, thereby requiring Ato/?ews-calibrated process before an
administrator may nullify a professor 's final dishonesty grade.

Question Presented (AI Summary)

Question not identified.

Docket Entries

2025-12-08
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due March 16, 2026)

Attorneys

Emir Phillips
Emir James Phillips — Petitioner