Ward Churchill's Day in Court Arrives
The trial in Ward Churchill's lawsuit against the University of Colorado got under way here on Tuesday with lawyers for the opposing sides painting starkly different pictures of both the controversial ethnic-studies professor and the circumstances surrounding his dismissal by the university in 2007.
In delivering their opening remarks in a crowded courtroom, both sides agreed that the university had been under intense outside pressure to fire Mr. Churchill as a result of the media uproar provoked by one of his essays, in which he compared many of those killed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to a famous Nazi bureaucrat.
But, as they framed the arguments they intended to make during the planned three-week civil trial in a state district court, the lawyers made clear that they would concede nothing regarding their central point of contention: whether the university's decision to investigate, and subsequently fire, Mr. Churchill was motivated by a desire to quell the controversy over his essay—in violation of his First Amendment speech rights—or whether it represented a justified response to alleged academic misconduct on his part.
Read entire article at Chronicle of Higher Ed
In delivering their opening remarks in a crowded courtroom, both sides agreed that the university had been under intense outside pressure to fire Mr. Churchill as a result of the media uproar provoked by one of his essays, in which he compared many of those killed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to a famous Nazi bureaucrat.
But, as they framed the arguments they intended to make during the planned three-week civil trial in a state district court, the lawyers made clear that they would concede nothing regarding their central point of contention: whether the university's decision to investigate, and subsequently fire, Mr. Churchill was motivated by a desire to quell the controversy over his essay—in violation of his First Amendment speech rights—or whether it represented a justified response to alleged academic misconduct on his part.