Jury Gets Case of Fired Professor - Ward Churchill

[groovedaddy]

After a four-week trial, a jury in Denver is deliberating the case of Ward L. Churchill, a former University of Colorado professor who says he was fired because of an essay he wrote in which he called victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks “little Eichmanns.”

The university says Mr. Churchill plagiarized and falsified parts of his academic research, particularly on American Indians, and cited this as grounds for his dismissal in July 2007. Mr. Churchill brought a wrongful termination suit against the university, seeking monetary damages for lost wages and harm to his reputation. He also wants to be reinstated to his job teaching ethnic studies.

The case is seen as a struggle between freedom of speech and academic integrity, and it has revived the longstanding debate about whether hate speech deserves protection by the First Amendment.

“If we win,” said David Lane, Mr. Churchill’s lawyer, “the symbolic First Amendment moment of Ward Churchill’s walking back into a classroom will be overwhelmingly positive.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/02/us/02churchill.html?th&emc=th

[Hawkeye-X]

1. Well, I've stayed out of the fray on this situation since it's CU...

But in my opinion, I think Churchill should remain fired and the termination is upheld.

Why? He's a fraud. The tribe that Churchill claims he is a member of doesn't acknowledge his lineage and does not recognize him as such.

That said, he can go to Liberty or Bob Jones.

Hawkeye-X

[hendo]

2. Churchill is a fraud who repeatedly committed plagiarism

he should be kicked to the curb. All that his "little Eichmann" essay did was lead to an investigation that revealed his true indiscretions.

[BridgeTheGap]

3. 'Professor' Ward Churchill Wins $1 and Job Back

Ward Churchill, the controversial professor fired from the University of Colorado, was wrongly terminated, a jury in Denver ruled Thursday.

While jurors, after a day and a half of deliberations, ruled in Churchill's favor, they awarded him only $1 in damages, The New York Times reported.

Judge Larry Naves, who presided over the case, is to decide whether Churchill should get his job back.

Churchill claimed victory and said he expects to be back at the university.

http://www.postchronicle.com/news/breakingnews/article_212220158.shtml