Category: Academia

Academia, Columns, Politics, Society

GEORGE WASHINGTON AND THE CALL FOR THE REMOVAL OF STATUES OF SLAVE-OWNING FOUNDERS

Gilbert_Stuart_Williamstown_Portrait_of_George_WashingtonBelow is my column in the Hill Newspaper on the call for the removal of the statue of George Washington in my hometown of Chicago.  This is not the first such call to remove statues of confederate figures or those who supported segregation. The most recent such removal was the removal of the statue of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney due to his authorship of the Dredd Scott decision.  There have been demands that monuments and the names of slave-owning founders be removed.

Here is the column: Continue reading “GEORGE WASHINGTON AND THE CALL FOR THE REMOVAL OF STATUES OF SLAVE-OWNING FOUNDERS” →

Academia, International, Military, Society

Wreckage of U.S.S. Indianapolis Found

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Academia, Free Speech

Ryerson University Cancels Free Speech Panel As A Threat To Public Safety

Ryerson_University_CrestI have previously written about how cities and universities are now cancelling conservative speakers in order to protect public safety. I recently discussed this rising rationale for barring speakers, a way for officials to claim that they are still being content neutral while achieving the same result of censoring speakers. The latest such example occurred in Canada at Ryerson University where the school canceled a free speech panel after some groups criticized the appearance of conservative speakers.   The school gave them what they demanded in the name of protecting public safety.

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Academia, Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Media

New York Times Column Calls For End To “Color-Blind Logic” In Defense of Free Speech

Freedom_of_SpeechI have been writing for years about the rising wave of intolerance for free speech that has swept over Europe and is now reaching our own shores in the United States.  Attacks on free speech are increasing from the left which has cracked down on speech deemed offensive or intimidating to any group.  Thus far, the United States has been a bulwark against this trend, but an editorial in the New York Times this week is a chilling example of how voices against free speech are now becoming mainstream. The editorial was written by K-Sue Park is a housing attorney and the Critical Race Studies fellow at the U.C.L.A. School of Law.  Park criticizes the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for what she views as blind fealty to free speech and suggests that it is time to stop defending Nazis because sometimes standing on the wrong side of history in defense of a cause you think is right is still just standing on the wrong side of history.  Of course, many of us believe that the wrong side of history is the side where free speech depends on what you want to say — and whether people like Park agree with it.

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Academia, Bizarre, Society

“Cafeteria Classism”: Florida Middle School Under Fire For Offering $100 Front Of The Line Food Passes

56-3688899-oliIt appears that the Lawton Chiles Middle Academy in Lakeland, Fla. is teaching its students a bit about living as the one percent.  The middle school sent out a  fundraising form to parents stating that for a $100 donation a student would be granted a “front of the lunch line pass.”   According to ABC Action News, the PTSA promised that the “last name or company logo feature on the website, as well as PTSA events AND front of the lunch line pass.”  The ad should be “Name logo sponsorship: $100; PTSA promos: $100; Lording over the unwashed: priceless.”You can imagine the response from parents to what they called “cafeteria classism.”

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Academia, Bizarre, Free Speech, Uncategorized

The New School Issues Guide On Microaggressions, Including Use Of Small Seats Or Sitting Away From Homeless People

imagesI have been a long critic of the erosion of free speech on college campuses and the use of the ill-defined concept of “micro aggressions” to sanction students and faculty alike.   Those concerns were magnified with the release of a guide by The New School, a university in New York City, on avoiding microaggressions.  There are now a variety of such aggressions from “microinsults” to “microassaults” to “microinvalidation.”  Microaggressions can now include having seats that are deemed too small or sitting too far from a homeless person on the subway.

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Academia, Bizarre, Politics, Society

Oregon Schools Strip “Lynch” Name From Three Schools Because They Sound Like “Lynching”

cropped-Lynch-Logo-Empower2It appears that the Centennial School District is really appreciative to the Lynch family for their generous donation of land for the establishment of public schools.  However, it appears that their name is simply unacceptable because, when used as a noun, it brings up painful images of lynchings.  We have previously discussed the same lunacy in higher education with buildings named after a Lynch.  It appears that even if a school wants to name itself after Loretta Lynch, the first female African American Attorney General, she will have to change her name.  Ironically, the first word in the motto of the Lynch Elementary School is “learn” but the learning curve appears too steep in the view of the board.  Under the same logic, animal rights activists could object that the school symbol is calling for the lynching of lion cubs — a highly disturbing and traumatic image for young children.

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Academia, Bizarre, Uncategorized

University of Georgia Professor Institutes A “Stress Reduction Policy” Where Student Can Pick Their Own Grades

CWP_5381_cropped_portrait_largeIt a fairly common joke among academics in discussing “campus life” policies that we should just let students pick their own grades.  University of Georgia professor Dr. Richard Watson appears to have taken such suggestions seriously with his new “stress reduction policy.”  Under that policy, students who “feel unduly stressed” can simply choose their own grades.   Continue reading “University of Georgia Professor Institutes A “Stress Reduction Policy” Where Student Can Pick Their Own Grades” →

Academia, Bizarre, Criminal law

NPR Under Fire For Calling Woman A Rape “Survivor” Despite Settlement In Favor Of The Accused Columbia Student

NPRLogoWe recently discussed the case of Emma Sulkowicz who gained fame as the “Mattress Girl” for her protest about the handling of her alleged rape by another Columbia student. Columbia not only cleared the male student,Paul Nungesser, of charges but the police refused to bring criminal charges.  Columbia recently settled a civil action brought by the male student and reaffirmed that it found no evidence supporting discipline for sexual assault.  Now,  the Boston-based National Public Radio  station is under fire for a story byNPR correspondent Tovia Smith that continued to refer to Sulkowicz as a “survivor” despite the countervailing findings of the university under the lower “preponderance of the evidence” standard advocated by the Obama Administration. The reference also indicated that Nungesser had indeed raped her.  While the declination to punish Nungesser by the school or the declination to prosecute him does not mean that no rape occurred, it does show that there was insufficient evidence against Nungesser who has always maintained his innocence.

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Academia, Bizarre, Criminal law

Chicago Police Issue Warrant To Arrest Northwestern Professor For Murder

Lathem_150-1An arrest warrant was issued Monday for Northwestern Prof. Wyndham Lathem, 42, in connection with the stabbing death of Trenton Cornell-Duranleau, 26, a cosmetologist from Michigan.  Police are also seeking University of Oxford employee Andrew Warren, 56.  The stabbing occurred at Lathem’s address and Cornell-Duranleau’s body showed lacerations.

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Academia, Free Speech, Media, Politics, Uncategorized

Montclair Professor Calls For Trump To Be Killed

download-1Women’s Studies Professor Kevin Allred at Montclair State University is back in the news.  Allred previously attracted national attention (while on the Rutgers faculty) after he was reportedly ordered to go through a psychiatric evaluation after students “felt threatened” by him following Trump’s election.  Now, Allred (who teaches a course on Beyonce) posted a comment that he hoped someone would kill Donald Trump.  As should come as little surprise to many who know my view of the First Amendment, I view this statement as protected speech and hyperbolic.  However, it was reckless, hateful, and worthy of condemnation.

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Academia, Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Politics, Society, Supreme Court

Judge Richard Posner Declares Support For Supreme Court Expansion Proposal

I have previously discussed the legendary career of Judge Richard Posner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.  Widely viewed as the father of Law and Economics, Posner remains one of greatest influences on American jurisprudence in the history of this country.  I have long been a great admirer of his work and teach his theories as part of my torts course.  It is for that reason that I was delighted when my co-counsel sent me the interview below where Judge Posner expressed support for the proposal that I have advanced for many years to reform the Supreme Court.  Posner agrees with the proposal to expand the Supreme Court to nineteen members.

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Academia, Politics, Society

San Diego Professor Criticizes Those Wishing “War Criminal” John McCain Sympathy Over His Cancer

downloadAnother controversy over free speech was triggered this week on social media by an academic expressing hateful views.  Various people have called for San Diego State University Political Science Professor Jonathan Graubart to be fired after denouncing those wishing Sen. John McCain best wishes for his recovery.  Graubart called McCain a “war criminal” and said that he was “annoyed” by all of the expressions of sympathy for his dire cancer prognosis.  Others at the school supported and shared his views.

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Academia, Politics, Society

Ending “White Heteromasculinism”: Professors Call For Less Reliance On White, Male, Heterosexual, and “Cisgendered” Academics

cgpc20.v024.i04.coverA new study has called for a concerted effort to cite academics of color and greater diversity to make from the hold of “white heteromasculism” on research.  Geographers Carrie Mott (professor at Rutgers University) and Daniel Cockayne (professor at University of Waterloo in Ontario) has identified the reliance on research by white males as a “system of oppression” benefitting “white, male, able-bodied, economically privileged, heterosexual, and cisgendered.” Cisgendered refers people whose gender identity matches their birth sex.

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Academia, Free Speech, Politics, Society

Trinity College Professor Cleared After Alleged Racist Postings Against White People

We previously discussed the controversy surrounding Trinity College Professor Johnny Williams and his posts against white people, including an inflammatory reference to people considered bigots and how we should “Let Them. F**king Die.”  Williams teaches classes on race and racism and clearly wanted to get others to read this hateful screed..  As I am mentioned in the earlier post,  I do not believe that Williams should have been punished for his postings as a matter of free speech and academic freedom.  The College has now reached the same conclusion but the question remains whether the College will take a similar principled position for academics espousing such views about other races.

 

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Res ipsa loquitur – The thing itself speaks