Former federal judge and University of Utah law professor Paul Cassell is facing a rare threat of a bar complaint over his representation of a client in the notorious case of billionaire and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Even more rare is the source of the threatened complaint: retired law professor Alan Dershowitz of the Harvard Law School. Epstein is good friends with Bill Clinton and Duke of York Prince Andrew, 54, who have been mentioned in litigation over allegations of the use of underaged “sex slaves” and Epstein’s alleged penchant for watching (and filming) people having sex with these girls. Dershowitz’s name has appears on the ignoble list contained in motions before a federal court in Florida. Dershowitz is now threatening to initiate disbarment proceedings against Cassell and Bradley Edwards, a Florida attorney who also represents Jane Doe #3 in the controversy.
Category: Academia
Middle school teacher and varsity cheer coach Heather Cagle was fired Wednesday night in a rather bizarre controversy. Cagle was fired after she admitted that she drove 11 yearbook students to Walmart for a snack, including two put into a locked trunk of her Honda Accord.
University of Michigan Communications Professor Susan Douglas is at the center of a controversy over a column that she wrote for In These Times entitled “It’s Okay To Hate Republicans.” The title was changed after Douglas complained that it did not represent the content of her column which began with the line “I hate Republicans.”
Continue reading ““I Hate Republicans”: Michigan Professor Under Fire For Provocative Column”
Below is my column that ran today in the USA Today. It ran earlier on the web and this is a slightly expanded version of the piece on the spat of apologies around the country.
Continue reading “Collegia Apologia: Academic Apologies Abound In The Aftermath Of Ferguson”
The news continues to grow worse over global warming. The Peru meeting revealed new research showing that time is running out for humanity to act on climate change. Now to new reports indicate that we may have underestimate the rate of loss on the huge ice sheet of West Antarctica — new calculations under global warming could mean a rise in global sea levels of as much as 23 feet. That would create massive changes in the coasts of the world.
We recently saw rather bizarre case of a college president having to publicly apologize for saying the “all lives matter” rather than “all Black lives matter” in supporting protests over the Ferguson and New York grand jury decisions. (Ironically, I listened this weekend to protests where leaders chanted “all lives matter” in Washington). Now, Serhat Tanyolacar, a University of Iowa visiting professor and printmaking fellow, has been denounced for a piece of art designed to protest racism after the decision. Iowa officials have declared the art to be the equivalent to hate speech and ordered its removal within hours — with President Sally Mason denouncing the art and apologizing profusely. Now, however, students are calling for the artist to be fired and for a new speech-regulating committee to be established for such public forums.
I am delighted to announce the addition of another weekend contributors, Cara Gallagher, to our crew. Cara teaches government, politics, and law to high school students at The Latin School of Chicago. She is a wonderful writer will bring a new and fresh perspective to RIL. We have benefited from writers — both as contributors and commenters — from wide social, demographic, and professional spectrum. One of the most interesting aspects of this blog is to see how differently people view the same issues or images. While our discussions are often passionate, we strive to maintain a civil and diverse discussion. I believe Cara will be an exciting new voice as a commentator.
A new poll shows broad support for carbon limits, including half of all Republicans. The poll comes out as scientists warn (as reported in the NY Times) that time is running out on climate change and, without decisive action, the world could eventually become uninhabitable for humans. Today, the Pope added his voice to the overwhelming weight of world scientists that time is running out. Likewise, island nations are now demanding action and calling on the world to witness the loss of their very existence to the rising seas.
The Rolling Stone Magazine and it writer, Sabrina Rubin Erdely (right), are facing yet another story detailing the astonishing lapses in journalistic ethics and practices related to its article about a rape on the University of Virginia campus. Among the most starting is a statement by Erdely that a key student would not speak with her about the rape out of loyalty to his fraternity. That student says that Erdely never contacted him and that he would have been more than willing to speak to her. As for the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, it confirmed that it did not host any registered social event the weekend of Sept. 28, 2012.
Continue reading ““A Shared Fury”: Smith College President Apologizes For Saying “All Lives Matter””
Columbia Law School has decided to delay exams for law students to overcome “trauma” of Ferguson, Garner decisions. It is the first such delay of exams for such decisions that I have seen at a law school and it has attracted criticism from both academics and lawyers as a poor preparation for real life as lawyers. Nevertheless, students at Harvard and Georgetown are now demanding the same right to delay their exams. Columbia has brought in a A “trauma specialist” to work with students. The University of California-Irvine has also offered such counseling to facilitate “healing, grieving and support.”
There are two separate controversies this week over rape stories that have been challenged by critics. Both stories involve leading U.S. universities. Unlike the Duke Lacrosse controversy, neither school is accused of wrongdoing. Rolling Stone magazine has apologized for shocking failures in reporting a sensational rape story where a woman named Jackie alleged that she was gang raped at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house, but the Washington Post reported on discrepancies in the account, including the fact that no party was held at the fraternity on the day in question. In the meantime, Lena Dunham’s story of being raped in college has been challenged as containing discrepancies and the man who has faced the most accusations is now considering a libel lawsuit against the author and director.
I am very sad to report the death of a GW law student and one of my past students, Mark Edwin Lee. Mark appears to have died on November 29th at his home in Washington, D.C. and the cause of death is not yet known.
To lose someone at such a young age is always a tragedy, but Mark was something truly special. He seemed to find the positive in any situation and any person. There are some people who can reduce stress and strife by just being themselves. Mark was one of those people. He was that rare combination of someone with a brilliant intellect and a warm and engaging personality. I saw Mark as the quiet type; a confident professional who would rise quickly in our profession. I not only thought the world of him but expected the world from him. His loss is truly our loss.
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
In another sign of what formerly was a secular state that is now becoming more Islamist, the Religious Affairs Leader of Turkey, Mehmet Görmez, announced his department was constructing eighty mosques at various universities countrywide.
The Article 136 of the Turkish Constitution does provide for an official department, The Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı, as it is known by formal name, “to execute the works concerning the beliefs, worship, and ethics of Islam, enlighten the public about their religion, and administer the sacred worshiping places.” After the dismantling of the caliphate in 1924, the department was formed.
Under Turkey’s former President Abdulla Gül who served from 2007 to August of 2014, the nation began separating from its secular practices. The latest announcement could be a sign that the government wishes to further instill Islam into the social fabric of future generations; beyond what was a long standing leaning toward separation of government and religion.
Continue reading “Turkish Government Building Mosques On University Campuses”
Now this is a study that any parent, particularly mothers, can verify with field research. A group of neuroscientists from the Universities of Pittsburgh, California-Berkeley and Harvard, and led by Kyung Hwa Lee have found that pre-teenage and teenage brains actually appear to partially shutdown when hearing criticism from mothers. In the meantime, another set of scientists have discovered a possible way to cut off pain — creating the ultimate possibility for teenagers to hear and feel nothing.
Continue reading “Are You Even Listening To Me? Well, Scientifically . . . No”