University of Kentucky Law Professor Sues After Reassignment, Citing First Amendment Claims Over Calls for Military Action Against Israel

Tenured law professor sues after being reassigned and barred from law building

Ramsi Woodcock, a tenured professor at the University of Kentucky’s J. David Rosenberg College of Law, filed a federal lawsuit on Nov. 13 alleging administrators removed him from teaching duties and restricted his access to the law school in retaliation for political speech made outside the classroom.

The complaint says the reprisals followed public postings, including a 2024 online petition titled "Petition for Military Action Against Israel" that Woodcock published through a site he identifies as the "Antizionist Legal Studies Movement." The petition’s text, quoted in the filing, calls for international military pressure on Israel:

"We demand that every country in the world make war on Israel immediately and until such time as Israel has submitted permanently and unconditionally to the government of Palestine everywhere from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea."

Woodcock’s complaint also says he has repeatedly described Israel as committing genocide against Palestinians, argued it has no right to exist, and urged that the international community bring an "end" to Israel. The lawsuit asserts he expressed similar views across academic forums during 2024 without administrative sanction, including faculty seminars, conferences, law school meetings and on his blog.

Policy changes and university action

According to the filing, the situation changed after Kentucky’s legislature passed Joint Resolution 55 in April 2025, directing public universities to combat antisemitism using the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition. The complaint alleges the university adopted a related policy in July 2025 instructing its equal-opportunity office to apply the IHRA definition, and the Board of Trustees formally approved that approach in September.

The suit says that on July 18 University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto publicly called Woodcock’s rhetoric "repugnant" and that the university that same day reassigned Woodcock to "100% professional development," canceled his classes, restricted access to the law-building and retained outside counsel to investigate. The complaint further alleges that a July 9 meeting included a vice provost notifying Woodcock that the university had received reports he spoke about genocide at conferences and questioning a link to his personal website on his College of Law profile.

Legal claims and requested relief

Woodcock’s lawsuit challenges the IHRA definition, arguing it "characterizes broad categories of constitutionally-protected speech critical of Israel as antisemitic." The complaint brings claims for First Amendment retaliation, due-process violations, race discrimination and an Administrative Procedure Act challenge seeking to prevent the U.S. Department of Education from using or requiring the IHRA definition in Title VI enforcement.

He asks the court to declare Kentucky’s measure unconstitutional, enjoin the university from relying on the IHRA definition in disciplinary matters, halt the ongoing investigation, restore his teaching duties and campus access, and award compensatory and punitive damages plus attorneys’ fees. Named defendants include University President Eli Capilouto, Provost Robert DiPaola, General Counsel William Thro, Law Dean James Duff and U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon in her official capacity.

University response and context

University of Kentucky spokesperson Jay Blanton told reporters that Woodcock was not suspended or fired but "reassigned pending the outcome of an investigation," and called the action appropriate and consistent with institutional norms. The university pointed to President Capilouto’s July 18 statement and said that while faculty retain free-speech rights, the institution must comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act if speech threatens the safety and well-being of staff and students.

Blanton added that the university’s academic-freedom policy, consistent with Sixth Circuit precedent, protects speech within a professor’s area of expertise but does not extend to conduct that creates a "hostile environment," which is what outside counsel has been asked to review. He said the university will limit further comment while the investigation proceeds.

In a statement, Woodcock defended his views: "Israel is a colonization project that practices apartheid and is currently exterminating two million Palestinians in Gaza. The scandal is not that I am calling for immediate military action to end Israel but that the university is willing to violate our nation's Constitution in order to preserve Israel. Every American has a First Amendment right to oppose Israel and I look forward to holding the university accountable for breaking the law."

The U.S. Department of Education did not respond to requests for comment, according to the reporting.