About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

2011 AALS News 1 (2011)

handle is hein.aals/aalsnews2011 and id is 1 raw text is: 2011 AALS Presidential Lecture Academic Freedom and Academic Duty MichaelA. Olivas, Universiy of Houston Law Center The following is the Presidential Address ofiMichael A. Olivas before the House ofRepresentatives at the AALSAnnual MeetingonJanuar 7, 2011. In preparation for this talk, I went into training, but I always knew what my theme would be. I read and pro- duce higher education literature for a living, and began to narrow the focus to threats to tenure and to aca- demic freedom and the concomitant academic duty obligations that arise out of our status as tenured profes- sors. There have been so many se- rious threats in law schools that it seemed a natural observation trail: a William Mitchell law faculty mem- ber arrested in Rwanda for his pro bono representation in an election matter there;' a New York University School of Law faculty-journal editor sued for criminal libel in France for publishing a book review;2 law school clinics reviled for their work, and threatened in Maryland, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, and in sev- eral other states;3 a law scholar sued for her research on family law, where her university chose not to indemnify her;4 a law review that pulled a piece from publication, due to threats from the company that was being writ- ten about;' other law faculty, such as University of California, Berkeley's John Yoo, punished for their views, as have been others who were not on law faculties.6 The zone where professorial speech is protected is shrinking, so that law professor habitat is akin to that of the disappearing savannahs IJosh Kron, Lawyers Report Intimidation by Rwanda, NY Te Michael A. Olivas at the Second Meeting of the AALS House ofRepresentatives and rain forests. Exhibit number one is the 2006 Garcetti v. Ceballos case, where the Supreme Court ruled that when public employees speak pur- suant to their official duties, the em- ployees are not speaking as citizens for First Amendment purposes, and the Constitution does not insulate their communications from employ- er discipline, regardless of whether or not the speech involves a matter of public concern.'7 The majority al- lowed that there is some argument that expression related to academic scholarship or classroom instruction implicates additional constitutional interests that are not fully accounted June 13, 2oio, Ai6. 2JenniferHoward, LibelCase, Prompted by.. AademiBookReie, Has SholarsWorried, Chon. ofHgheEdu., April2 20Io, availableat http:// hronile.om/arztile/Libel Case Prompted by an/65224/; see also Jennifer Howard, BitiLib L Chills U. S. Scholars Speech, but Change Is Afoot, Chon. oJHfgheEdu, April 23, 2010, A8, 10 (UK libel ase). 3 See, e.g RbR. Kuehn and Peter A. Joy, Kneeapping Aadem Freedom, Aademe, 815 (NovemberDeember 20 ) [inluding Table Publized Instanes of Interferene in Law School Clinis, at 12 13, available at: http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/pubsres/a/ademe/20IO/ ND/feat/kuehchart.htm. 4 Sott Jashik, Twisting in the Wind, InsideHigherEdom, November 30, 2005, available at: http://www.iinsdehighered.om/ new/2OOS/II/30/liability (inluding other examples of lasuits against sholars). The chilling legal effect upon scholarship has been widely chronled; see eg., Benedict Carey, Aademi Battle Delays Publiation by 3 Years, NY Te, June 12, 2010, A13 (psychology publiation delayed); Amy Gajda, The Trils o2Aademe: The.NeEroJ CampusLitg&tion (2009). 5 Peter Monaghan, AJournalArtle Is Expunged and ItsAthors Cry Foul, Chon. HgheEdu, Deember , 2000, A14, availableat: http:// hronle'm/ ar tile/AJ.ornal ArticleIs Expunged/I59o/; Peter Mnaghan, Professrs Sette Suit With U. f Dner 0 Retrated Artle, Chon oHgheEdu, September 7, 2001, A25, available at: http://hronile.om/artile/Professors Settle Suit Wnith U/2232I/ 6 PeterJashik, Torture and Tenure, InsideHigherEd.6om, April 14, 2008, available at: http://www.insdehighered.om/nes/2008/4/I4/ yoo (revieing calls for firng Professor Yoo for White House memos); Frances Tobin, Torture Memos' John Y Greeted at Berkeley by Protesters, PolitisDailyom, September 2, 2009 available at: http://www.politisdaily.om/2009/09/02/protests welome torture memo wit ohn yoo bak to berkeley/ . Hislass loation has had to be hidden from non ass members, so as o avoid disruptions. Class in Hiding, Nt'Junit, February 2010, 2 available at: http://www.nxtbook.om/nxtbooks/cypress/nationaljuristO2i1/#/i2. Perhaps the m t prmint adei punished f- his i- w- Ward Churhill, whohas exhaused virtually all his options, athough ajury found him to have been wrongly dismissed from his tenured position at the University of Colorado. Sott Jashik, A Loss for Ward Churchill and Others?, Insidehighered-om, November 29, 2010, available at: http://www.insdehighered.om/new/2OIO/II/29/hurhill; Chrstopher N. Osher, Churchill loses bid to return to CUjob, Dene Pot, November 24, 2OO, Bi. 7 547 US 41o, 421 (2006) See, e.g Sheldon H. Nahmod, Publi Employee Speech, CategorialBalaning and 19 83: A Critique of G-r etti Cellos, 42 U. Rth. L. Re 562 (2008). See also Matthe W. Finkin and Robert C. Post, Fo the Co-on Good: Princple oJfAmericn Acdemi Freedom (2009). While threas to aademic freedom and tenure are thought ofas the provne of lib mi, th i partisan lines, as with Profeso Y.. and with Profso RhardJ. Pltz, whha - writtenat lgth ab n ituation, where hfh wa mobbed f-r hi viewpoins. SeeRhardJ. Petz, PenumbralAademi Freedom Interpreting heTenure Contrat i Time of Constittional Impoene, 37 J. C o1. U. L. i59, i6o 162 (2010) (reounting his experience at University of Arkansas, Little Rock). Continued on page 2 Printed as a Public Service by West Law School Publishing and Foundation Press.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most