Daymon Johnson, a history professor at Bakersfield College in California, did not want to endorse discrimination or submit to “woke” indoctrination, including neo-Marxism.
The college was stifling Johnson’s speech because he disagrees with leftist ideology. Professors and students in any institution of higher learning should learn to think critically, not confirm to one ideological view.
The Institute for Free Speech (IFS) took on Johnson’s case, filing a lawsuit in 2023 against Bakersfield College on his behalf. IFS announced that Johnson and the college reached a settlement on July 7, 2026.
According to the court opinion (PDF), the college and Kern Community College District are enjoined from “investigating, disciplining, or terminating Johnson by enforcing Cal. Code of Regs. tit. 5, §§ 53602(b) and 53605(a), and Cal. Educ. Code § 87732(f) to the extent it incorporates these regulations, based on Johnson’s proposed social or political speech as described in his First Amended Complaint…”
Alan Gura, vice president for Litigation at the Institute for Free Speech, told Courthouse News that this was a straightforward First Amendment case.
“California community colleges tried to make Professor Johnson say things he didn’t believe — under threat of discipline or termination if he refused. California cannot demand that community college professors conform their speech to an official government ideology — including so-called ‘DEI’ and anti-racist ideologies.”
Photo credit: Institute for Free Speech
