[Some background is at http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,35829,00.html. Three cheers for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (thefire.org) and some brave politicians and students who have stood up for Chris along the way. --Declan] ********* From: Chris.Brownat_private Subject: Decision in the "Disacknowledgement" Case. To: declanat_private Date: Tue, 1 May 2001 11:35:15 -0700 Declan, I thought that politechbot would be interested in learning that the judge granted the defendant's Summary Judgment Motion in my First Amendment lawsuit against officials at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). Federal Court Judge Ronald Lew ruled that the defendants were entitled to qualified immunity. He believed university professors were acting within the scope of their duties when they removed my thesis from the library and refused to grant my master's degree. The issue was not the caliber of the work, but the contents of the highly subjective acknowledgement section. As I have learned, UCSB allows praise of university but will not tolerate criticism of the same. I have always believe this to be a basic tenet of the first amendment. I will appeal the decision. In truth, we had expected this ruling from this judge, but believed he would give more careful consideration to three facts. 1) The decision of the one thesis committee member was based on his Mennonite religious beliefs. 2) The university's own counsel advised the defendants that their position was constitutionally problematic. 3) The university had previously taken a laissez fair position with respect to acknowledgement sections. Previous students had criticized the university, included comic strips, used profanity, expounded political diatribes, etc. If you or your readers are interested in brass tacks, I continue to make all materials available on my website, http://www.disacknowledged.org (I will have the written decision available when it becomes available). I also suggest a more objective view from today's LA Times story. http://www.latimes.com/news/state/20010501/t000036742.html Warmest Regards, Christopher Brown ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if it remains intact. To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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