Ward Churchill files lawsuit
Ward Churchill's attorney is seeking a more sympathetic jury by taking the case of the fired University of Colorado professor to Denver District Court rather than to a federal judge.
Federal judges tend to defer to the personnel decisions of university governing boards, especially if the boards followed due process as set forth in their own operating procedures, legal experts say. But a local jury is less predictable.
"There's no way to know - some will, some won't (defer to the governing board)," said Denver attorney Martha Tierney, who practices civil rights law.
Churchill and his lawyer, David Lane, have been effective with Denver juries before. Lane won acquittals for eight activists, including Churchill, who were accused of disrupting a Columbus Day parade in 2004.
Read entire article at Rocky Mountain News
Federal judges tend to defer to the personnel decisions of university governing boards, especially if the boards followed due process as set forth in their own operating procedures, legal experts say. But a local jury is less predictable.
"There's no way to know - some will, some won't (defer to the governing board)," said Denver attorney Martha Tierney, who practices civil rights law.
Churchill and his lawyer, David Lane, have been effective with Denver juries before. Lane won acquittals for eight activists, including Churchill, who were accused of disrupting a Columbus Day parade in 2004.