Ohio Northern University’s Petite College of Law has a curious view of due process. The law school sent security officers into the class of Professor Scott Gerber in April and removed him from the class. He was then barred from teaching or even coming on campus. If you think it must have been something unspeakable, you are right. No one has yet to fully explain to Gerber why he has been subject to these measures. I have been waiting to write on the case because I assumed the law school would be forthcoming on the details. It has not despite a growing number of calls for explanations of the underlying claims being made against this academic.
Gerber has been on the faculty since 2001. In addition to an impressive array of publications, he is an associated scholar at Brown University’s Political Theory Project and a member of the Ohio Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. He is also a four-time winner of the Fowler V. Harper Award for excellence in legal scholarship and a three-time recipient of the Daniel S. Guy Award for excellence in legal journalism. In 2020, he was awarded the inaugural Christopher Collier Prize from the Connecticut Supreme Court Historical Society.
That record would seem to entitle him to a modicum of due process before being yanked from his class — or at least an explanation shortly thereafter. However, neither Dean Charles Rose nor his staff have supplied the information despite a wide array of groups and academics objecting to the treatment of the professor.
Gerber wrote about his experience in a May 9 op-ed for The Wall Street Journal. He said that, after armed security removed him from this class, he was told to sign a separation agreement and release of claims by April 21, or ONU would commence dismissal proceedings. The grounds, he alleged, is a lack of “collegiality” with no other explanation.
Gerber’s treatment has raised concerns because he is a conservative writer and has objected to diversity, equity and inclusion policies. Indeed, just days before his removal, Gerber wrote an op-ed in The Hill defending U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. (For the record, I write a regular column for The Hill).
Gerber says that an investigation began in January 2023, but school officials refused to tell him the grounds. He refused to participate until he was given details on the charges.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression is now involved in the case on his behalf.
Gerber also said that the American Association of University Professors notified campus leaders twice that “an absence of collegiality ought never, by itself, constitute a basis for nonreappointment, denial of tenure, or dismissal for cause.”
I am frankly perplexed by the position of the law school, which seems wholly at odds with core principles of due process. For a school that is rightfully proud of its success in trial advocacy, I assume students are given the charges or questions presented before trial or appellate arguments.
Professor Gerber has a history of being confrontational and litigious with other staff members including school administration. Clearly he’s a jerk and is seem as such by other professors. Essentially he’s an A-hole.
The PRIVATE school initiated an investigation with a law firm conducting it and requested Gerber come in to answer questions. He refused to do so until he was told what the allegations against him were so he could defend himself. It’s not clear that the school is required to tell him before the interview. He could have gone to it and found out and still invoke his 5th amendment right to remain silent. As a law school professor he SHOULD have known that instead of refusing to cooperate.
Refusal to cooperate in an investigation is grounds for dismissal or other type of discipline.
“ Gerber’s refusal to participate violates Section 5.1: Standard of Conduct of the Ohio Northern University Staff Handbook,” Snyder wrote, “which lists ‘[r]efusing to cooperate with a University investigation’ and ‘insubordination’ among the behaviors that could result in disciplinary action against him.”
If he wants to find out all he has to do is cooperate. At the interview he can refuse to answer certain questions and at the same time he can find out what the allegations against him are.
Everyone is crying foul because the school won’t say why he was suspended or banned from campus. But everyone is ignoring the fact that while Gerber is not required to cooperate and will only do so when he’s told what the allegations against him are the lack of cooperation automatically triggers disciplinary action. All the critics of the school should KNOW that he can still refuse to answer questions once he finds out what the allegations against him are. It’s Gerber that is the problem and since he’s essentially a verified litigious jerk the school may have good reason to keep him in the dark until he cooperates. It makes sense as a strategy when dealing with jerks like Gerber who is known to file lawsuits for the most ridiculous things. The problem is not the school, it’s Gerber. He has the power to find out just by cooperating.
“Professor Gerber has a history of being confrontational and litigious with other staff members including school administration. “
That is a stupid statement unless you can back it up with data. If he takes viewpoints against your handler’s position that is not his problem. It is yours.
How much more of your nonsense do we have to put up with?
Anonymous, you know you can find out for yourself, right? You’re not THAT stupid, I’m sure of it. I think.
Here just in case you are too lazy anyway.
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2015/05/federal-judge-allows-law-profs-lawsuit-against-law-school-.html
He has a long history of being a litigious jerk. It seems he may have done something more serious that he is not admitting, but the college knows more. Only he could have solved this mystery by cooperating. He wouldn’t even needed to answer any questions. If he was smart he could figure out what this is about by the questions they asked. Crazy huh?
The case documents the colleges abusive behavior, no the Professors.
You say, “If he wants to find out all he has to do is cooperate.” Sounds a lot like “you’ll have to pass it to see what’s in it.”
Pull up the bricks and start building the barricades! Plant the battle flag, To Arms, To Arms!
Whoops, sorry, I got carried away in the moment.
Ohio is generally a red state but not totally and there are still enclaves of leftists there, especially in universities, and cities
Seems strange but hopefully more will come in news and documentation. I have had the uncomfortable fortune to jump to conclusions in the past with too much error so I tend to wait a little longer.
You never know when the left pulls out the old rape or sexual assault act that is 20-40 yrs old and no one can remember the actual date or even who was there. That’s been tried at least 4 times in recent memory with Justice Thomas, Justice Kavanaugh, Former President Trump (with a state passing a law with a 1 yr window to allow the civil charge), Judge Moore in Alabama.
It is highly suspicious behavior by a University which we have seen in the past.
Attorneys not following due process. Who would have ever thought it. Of course the silence from the University is also a weapon that lets imaginations run wild.
I would suppose when the henchmen of Stalin or Mao came for you they need not have produced a reason either.
Part of the solution is to end all federal money to cities, states and colleges.
Democrats use Federal Money to ENFORCE their fascism
Without that money….they FAIL! Let them FAIL!
Good college subject will still thrive….but BLM, African studies, Gender studies, etc will DIED
Democrats are winning their FASCIST WAR!
today’s US Democrats and Globalists remind me of the German National Socialists in the 1930’s, fearless, fascist and Machiavellian
Republicans remind me of Neville Chamberlain…with good intentions and weak actions!
Sadly this time…there is NO US to Rescue the world
Democrats are backed by people who HATE America and the little people and FREEDOM!
USSR Redshirts,
Germany Brownshirts,
Italy Blackshirts,
China Redshirts,
US Democrats Rainbowshirts
SAME FASCISM!
Political tyranny has nothing on the totalitarianism of academia these days.
This lack of “collegiality” sounds suspiciously like the lack of a “pastoral” attitude when conservative Catholic men are rejected from Catholic seminaries. It is code for someone who actually professes Catholic teaching on pre-marital sex and homosexual acts.
Probably a good albeit unintended analogy. Ohio Northern is a Methodist college. It can do what it wants just like liberal Catholic seminaries can do what they want (by the way there are many conservative Catholic seminaries… not sure there are many Methodist law schools)
That’s a good way for them to remain “petite”.
I hope Professor Gerber sues the law school AND the various individuals involved in his dismissal and seeks a HUGER damages reward. I also hope that he does not in the alternative accept a settlement tied to a confidentiality non-disclosure agreement. These issues need to be aired and disseminated.
Unfortunately, colleges and universities, like think tanks, the media, AND our Government are all complicit in censorship, blacklisting and ‘lawfare’- all of which are anti-thetical to any notion of democracy and the rule of law. Politics and political correctness should not be a measuring rod for applying the law.
BTW, Professor Turley, I read your posts regularly. Yours are a breath of fresh air, and as educational about the law as any I’ve seen in the media and alternative media.
Keep up the good fight.
(Disclaimer: I attended GWU Law School prior to Prof. Turley’s engagement there. I deeply regret I never had him as a professor for Criminal Law and Constitutional Law.)
Ohio Northern is a Methodist college. It can hire/fire whomever whenever. He could sue if they owe him some money I assume
I am frankly perplexed by the position of the law school, which seems wholly at odds with core principles of due process
That is the point. It is not by accident. What is it going to take for you to conclude that this isnt the America we once knew? Literally everyone in America is discussing the latter point regularly.
The Constitution states only one command twice. The Fifth Amendment says to the federal government that no one shall be “deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.” The Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868, uses the same eleven words, called the Due Process Clause, to describe a legal obligation of all states. These words have as their central promise an assurance that all levels of American government must operate within the law (“legality”) and provide fair procedures
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/due_process
It is a reasonable wager to conclude that the university eschews due process, much like the Left eschews the 1A especially by private agencies. Unless if there is a heinous act that the professor committed that he is not divulging, which is a possibility, the university admins might believe it does not have to recognize due process since they are a private institution.
In Fidel Castro’s Marxist reign of terror, including today, his brown shirts have a long history of routinely entering places of employment and escort workers out of the building. The charge was usually being a “counter revolutionary”. The trajectory was always the same: unapologetically thrown into subhuman prisons for decades or released as they were about to die.
What separates us from Cuba today is the 2A. When the 2A is nulled, and Biden has stated as such, that is when the MSM will all be channeling Walter Duranty, and given Pulitzer Prize awards for good measure. We are all being hunted by Democrats brown shirts. We are the prey, e.g. Richmond FBI preyed on Catholics, Attorney General Merrick Garland allows the Left to prey upon SCOTUS Justices, parents of school age children, pro-life centers, etc, etc, etc
Estovir,
I have commented in the past about the possibility of a civil war, that must not happen.
However the parallels between 1930s Germany, Mao’s Culture Revolution and woke leftists that have taken over the Democrat party are truly frighting.
After Shellyne Rodriguez pressing a machete against a reporters throat, I could see woke leftists resorting to open violence against anyone who is not woke.
Some have even called for a revolution.
I fear for the kind of revolution they seek. Something tells me it will end badly.
of course it will end badly. And I agree, it is frightening. The Left thinks their violence is justified and that no one will push back in kind, e.g. Hunter College machete wielding adjunct instructor now terminated.
I am traveling to John Hopkins next week, presenting my research data and findings to some research faculty there, and staying with my older cousin the night prior. Our conversations are always the same: reliving what happened to our family in Cuba and sharing our concerns about America’s trajectory. If only Americans did the latter as well. It is preferable someone at DOJ read the temperature of the nation and made it a priority to restore confidence in the DOJ FBI. It would make sense to pursue that route.
GEB’s comment, “Plant the battle flag, To Arms, To Arms!” brought a chuckle, but there is no need to build barricades and plant flags. Hopefully never
Estovir– OTS
As I’ve mentioned before, in West Palm Beach where I grew up, one of my best friends was the child of Cuban parents who had fled from Castro. My friend was dark-skinned, tall and sang like an angel. All of the girls swooned over him (instead of me). We were at Baylor together when he left school, joined the military and became a helicopter pilot in Viet Nam. He did not last long. After only a few months, he was shot down by a shoulder-launched missile. Back then I wrote a tribute to him, the closing line of which was “my friend, I can still hear you singing.” This Memorial Day, as with each one since his death, I will read the tribute again, the second year my grandsons will hear it. Whenever I read your comments I am reminded of my friend. Thank you again.
Thanks HonestLawyerMostly. If it helps, I used to sing like an angel, Bass Baritone. My head injury in medical school resulted in bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. I am deaf. However with cochlear implants, I have regained much hearing except that I now sing flat. The Cathedral Choir director kept reminding me to sing a half note higher, but I could not tell. So I dropped out. St Augustine said, “he who sings prays twice!”. Cindy might like that quote.
Please post your tribute. I am certain Antonio, myself and others will appreciate it
You and Cindy have been quiet. Please tell her I think and pray for her medical condition, and her husband as well as caretaker.
The Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association (VHPA) website has a lot of information about helicopter pilots, crew, and passengers that were killed, wounded, injured, or went missing during the Vietnam War.
The website is found at vhpa.org and provides some interesting account of those losses.
For most it is just a bunch of names and numbers, facts and figures, but to a lot of us it is friends, family, comrades-in-arms, faces, voices, memories, and nightmares.
This weekend as you celebrate a holiday….take a moment to teach your children what Memorial Day is all about…..the losses, the gallantry, the sense of duty and patriotism that so many gave their all for our futures.
I wear a simple stainless steel bracelet on my right wrist….in memory of a fellow Army Helicopter Pilot and Flight School Classmate who remains Missing In Action/ Body Not Recovered.
Being lost during combat is a tragedy but being forgotten afterwards is a far worse loss…..don’t forget them the Weekend….take a moment and be glad they lived and served at the cost of their own lives.
Americans started doing this even before this Nation was founded and done so ever since and are still prepared and ready to do so yet again should it be necessary.
We are blessed to have them living among us still.
Honestlawyer, your story is beautiful and I wish more people would read the comments that you and Estovir write on here. The sad thing about your tale is that after escaping communism your friend ended up being killed by a communist shooting him out of the sky, a communist that was supported by the likes of Jane Fonda, an “activist” that is still around and is still wrong.
We have the loony left telling us that Florida is a dangerous place for Latinos but if you ask the Latino population they will tell you a different story. They know communism, they fled communism and they see what today’s left is all about.
But thanks to both of you, and a few other great commenters, for the always great comments.
Estovir is one of the people who I look to for useful insight into many issues that are discussed here as I find his posts to be very worth considering.
After years of reading his posts and nodding my head in silent agreement I finally must take issue with one of his observations.
He is absolutely correct that the US DOJ and FBI must be reformed and thus bring back a belief by the American People that they are unbiased and trustworthy.
Where I differ with Estovir is that is not part of the Left’s Agenda or interest and in fact what is going on is exactly what the Left desires re the DOJ and FBI.
The only way the DOJ and FBI get reformed is by the Republicans re-gaining control of the White House and both houses of Congress and all of those participants act in concert to actually do something and not just talk about it.
Estovir is in a position to legitimately compare what happened in Cuba to what he sees happening in the United States.
Something as simple as “Due Process”, “The Rule of Law”, and Individual Freedom are all being destroyed by the radical Leftist Agenda.
If it comes to a Revolution…..some lessons from History should be of interest to the Left that are so intent upon on destroying our Nation from within…..it only takes three percent of a population to win an insurgency if they have the support of the people. Can the Left count upon not having to deal with an Insurgency should they finally gain real control of the Federal Government. The American People are seeing what the Radical Left Control Lite looks like today…..imagine the reaction when/if the Radical Left does fully control the Federal Government. Life as we know it shall change for the worse without any doubt whatsoever.
Thank you Ralph for your kind words. I am always mindful that lurkers read our comments, and that not all who flame me, and I have my fair share, represent the lurkers. Lurkers almost always outnumber the commenters. I am guessing Darren has those numbers.
I believe it is usually more effective to give people an out or an option. It is rarely a good idea to back a cat into a corner, otherwise it will come out scratching you. Better to explore the possibility that people might reason, might choose the better option, and all come to an agreeable solution. I don’t know for a fact that everyone at the DOJ is corrupt. Bill Barr stated less than a year ago that there were good people at DOJ, just as not all FBI agents are corrupt agents. So it seems to me that there has to be at least 1 honorable executive at the DOJ and FBI. Who that person is, I have no idea, but better to explore all options than go full nuclear. That’s just my 2 cents though
Estovir, HonestLawyerMostly, Ralph Chappell,
Very interesting comments, observations and stories.
Thank you for sharing them.
As Ralph Chappell noted, comments like these are the reason to come to the good professor’s blog.
Upstate, the revolution you are discussing has been ongoing for a good time. The only difference is this revolution is bloodless, except for its victims.
The machete-type incidents are downplayed by the left so that attention is focused elsewhere. In the meantime, those things the left denies or says have stopped will again be noticed and downplayed.
I thought TCH put this to rest, but it reappears.
“Last week, I worked with a whistleblower to expose the child sex-change program at Texas Children’s Hospital. Executives had promised to stop such procedures, but, as the medical records demonstrate, this was not done—doctors secretly continued to provide puberty blockers and other hormones to children between the ages of 11 and 17.
Within days of the story’s publication, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton launched an official investigation, saying that “children are not to be treated as science experiments.” And state legislators secured the votes to pass a bipartisan bill, SB 14, that would outlaw all so-called “gender-affirming care” for minors.”
The whistleblower transcript is interesting and informative. An example:
“Christopher Rufo: How fast is the decision made to prescribe puberty blockers to these children? Is it same-day?
Whistleblower: Yes, if they fit the WPATH criteria for gender dysphoria, which is widely available online. And these kids get coached on exactly what to say through Reddit and all these sites. They know exactly the verbiage to use. They just have to establish care with Dr. Roberts, he has a conversation with them, and he essentially starts them on puberty blockers, almost immediately.”
“( Transgender medicine is hugely lucrative. It’s like $70,000 to $80,000 dollars per kid)”
We see how the left on this blog says differently, but they are being deceptive. This is just part of their revolution against society. For the left, it is a revolution, but for many of their supporters, it is dollars or the desire to play God.
https://rufo.substack.com/p/theyre-wanting-to-play-god?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1248321&post_id=123343840&isFreemail=true&utm_medium=email
S. Meyer,
I agree there is the underpinnings of a bloodless revolution going on.
What concerns me is when it goes bloody.
The woke leftist rhetoric continues to become more and more shrill. Their blind rage against anything and everything not woke may reach a boiling point they just may take up machetes in search of the capitalists, the racists, white supremacists, Jews, homophones, trans phobes, xenophobes, those who watched Tucker Carlson, voted for Trump, or like white rice over brown.
Bloodless can succeed and may. Bloody on the left’s part, I think will fail. The machete holder was acting like an animal which is typical of the left. She did more to injure her cause than those that subvert American law and morality.
Upstate, I should have added that the left already took up “machetes” against Jews.
I fear for the kind of revolution they seek. Something tells me it will end badly.
Upstate, a sane person fears that, not because they won’t fight, but because it will result in unnecessary carnage. I look at the DoI and how every word was specifically chosen. And one word jumps out, whenever. Jefferson didn’t say if ever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends,… The list of grievances they compiled is not much different than the list we are racking up today. Dan Bongino often says that things are just not bad enough yet. He’s not saying they aren’t, just that they haven’t broken through the disinformation network of the state. It’s as though the state-run media functions like the Atlantic Ocean did for the Colonists. This election cycle is going to be a reality check for this country. Whenever reality does hit them, they’ll realize things got bad enough decades ago.
It’s a private Methodist college. They can do whatever they want. Turley “forgot” to mention that particular detail.
This is the leftists version of Mao’s Culture Revolution.
Secrete courts where the defendant is not even allowed to know what crimes he has allegedly committed, access to the evidence of his alleged crimes or even allowed to mount a defense.
Just, “The court has found you guilty on all counts.”
Wait till they see as more and more conservatives leave these so-called institutions of higher learning and form their own schools where things like free speech, transparency, and rule of law are upheld.
Of course I would expect the Maoists to resent that kind of environment and mob the campus with machetes high over head.
Id wager a bet that they, canned him for his views, position on, and/or statements contrary to the institutions insane liberal woke policies or views. Go against their narratives and due process is thrown out the door
You know I dropped out of College in the mid 1980s due to costs. Wages were low, rents high and I just couldn’t afford to continue so after 2 semesters I dropped out. But I always thought that here in my senior years I’d go back to college and finish my degree.
What the f##$ was I thinking…..
It’s clear to me.
The left using force to silence debate. Our host has been chronologicaling all these actions for years.
The left looses every debate in the arena of ideas. Using force to ban the debate is literally the face of tyrants.
Iowan2, really? Ummm…so banning drag shows using the force of law because….they seem offensive to children of parents who are NOT there. But parents who ARE there are ok with it? Weird.
Reading to kids in drag is how harmful now? You already admit that you would love to have Bugs Bunny back even when it depicted him wearing drag and kissing characters of the same sex. Really weird.
so banning drag shows using the force of law because…
Drag shows are not debate. The right wants the DEBATE about drag shows, but leftists like you just smear the other side as haters, and refuse the debate. Or silence the debate in college classrooms. Like I said the Left always loses in the Arena of ideas.
“. . . lack of ‘collegiality’ . . .”
Been there, subjected to that.
That is academic code for: Activist faculty don’t like your ideas and talent. In other words, it’s mob rule — which in academia is called “academic mobbing.”
Are you supporting harassing those who disagree with you, woke or not? This case has nothing to do with woke, democrats, progressives, etc. It has to do with an alleged abusive course of conduct against those who disagree with you. Try reviewing the facts of this case before leaping to the conclusion that this person is being persecuted for his beliefs, rather than for his behavior.
Professor Gerber has an impressive list of accomplishments since joining the faculty of Ohio Northern in 2001. Sadly, that’s not enough in today’s “Amerika”. Professor Gerber dared to defended Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and spoke out against the equity agenda and has now incurred the wrath of the Ohio Northern’s Cheka. Makes you wonder how many other law schools in the United States are brainwashing their students with this communist propaganda ? Let’s have a whole generation of obedient little Lenin Wannabees spewing their hatred of the United States. Thank you, Jonathan, for an excellent article.
This is downright terrifying. The dems are doing everything by proxy in a seeming effort to avoid the pitfalls of authoritarians of the past. It is madness. I do not know how we get through this. Prepare for the ugliest election season this country has ever seen and for insanity on a scale that is tough to wrap one’s head around. Disgusting.
Daylight is the best disinfectant.
This is the scariest thing I have heard yet. The thuggery is following the play book of the Nazis before they took power. No one learned a thing about how to stop a totalitarian takeover from happening again.
“Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime.”
I suggest you go to the Hardin County Clerk of Courts and search for the TRO case filed by Professor Gerber’s counsel – which TRO request was denied and review the case file and look at the facts before leaping to conclusions.