[This is in two parts, both below. Now that we've heard FIRE's side, I invite the University of North Carolina at Wilmington to reply. I will forward a response unedited, of course. If FIRE's statements are incorrect, I think it's fair to assume that the administration will want to set the record straight. --Declan] --- From: "Thor Halvorssen" <thorat_private> To: <declanat_private> Subject: UNC-Wilmington Invades Professor's Privacy and Chills Everyone's Free Speech Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2001 10:48:35 -0500 To: Declan McCullagh From: Thor L. Halvorssen UNC-Wilmington Invades Professor's Privacy and Chills Everyone's Free Speech WILMINGTON, NC--The University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNC-W) ordered the opening and examination of the private letters of a UNC-W professor's email account. It is a remarkable story of abusive authority and hypocrisy. Four days after the terrorist attacks on New York City and the Pentagon, a student sent the professor, and others, an email that blamed the United States for the attacks. She asked recipients to forward it to those interested in further "open" discussion. When the professor responded with criticism of her opinions, and when others to whom he forwarded her email responded with forceful criticism, the student demanded that the University grant her access to the professor's private emails so that she could sue him. Although UNC-W's own counsel twice acknowledged that the student's claims are entirely without legal merit, the administration has nevertheless capitulated to her irrational demands and examined the professor's private correspondence. "Administrators at UNC-W apparently have concluded that the senseless demands of one individual--demands that have no legal merit and that the school itself dismissed at first--are enough to trump the constitutional rights of another. It is a sad case of careerism and indifference to principle," said Alan Charles Kors, President of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). On September 15, Mike Adams, a professor at UNC-W's Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, received an email from Rosa Fuller, a UNC-W undergraduate. The email, addressed generally to the University's students and faculty, quoted the "World Socialist Website." In her email, Rosa Fuller argued, "far from America being 'the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world,' the US is seen by tens of millions as the main enemy of their human and democratic rights, and the main source of their oppression. The American ruling elite, in its insolence and cynicism, acts as if it can carry out its violent enterprises around the world without creating the political conditions for violent acts of retribution." She concluded with an invitation to forward the email in the interest of "open, unbiased, democratic discussion." Professor Adams sent Fuller a brief reply and forwarded her message to others, several of whom responded directly to Fuller. Stung by sharp criticism, Fuller, in communications to the UNC-W general counsel, accused Professor Adams of intimidation, defamation, and false representation. On the basis of these specious accusations, Fuller demanded that the University allow her to see the professor's emails. Administrators at first stated that she had no right to view those emails, but Fuller persisted. On her third attempt, administrators capitulated, abandoning their recognition of an obligation to defend a faculty member's right to privacy, and deciding instead to search the professor's private email records on her behalf. "Rosa Fuller claimed she wanted an 'open discussion,' but when emails came to her that were dismissive of her ideas she quickly abandoned the freedom of speech she claimed to foster," said Kors. "It's as if she believes that speech is only free to the extent to which it agrees with her ideas." When UNC-W administrators first questioned Adams, he contacted FIRE, which wrote to UNC-W Chancellor James Leutze pointing out that the discussion and criticism that Rosa Fuller's email initiated were "a demonstration of the First Amendment at work," but that "now Rosa Fuller seeks to prosecute those who disagree with her." FIRE added that the administration "has legitimized her claims by taking action against Professor Adams. In doing this, UNC-W has ominously demonstrated that when the most basic rights of students and faculty are threatened, UNC-W is not above abandoning them. The chill that this will send into every communication on your campus is palpable." "We hope that UNC-W's administrators will avoid doing battle with the Bill of Rights, to which they are morally and legally bound," said FIRE's letter to UNC-W. "They must change course before irreversible harm is done to privacy rights and freedom of speech on campus. UNC-W's duty is to protect the constitutional rights of its faculty and its students at all costs, not to appease those who would silence all dissent." FIRE has yet to receive a response from Chancellor Leutze. However, FIRE's campaign of sunlight has included appearances by Adams on television and in newsprint. FIRE will soon begin a long-term initiative to educate UNC-W's regents, students, parents, and donors. FIRE is a nonprofit educational foundation that unites civil rights and civil liberties leaders, scholars, journalists, and public intellectuals across the political and ideological spectrum on behalf of individual rights, due process rights, freedom of expression, and rights of conscience on our campuses. FIRE's efforts to preserve liberty can be seen by visiting www.thefire.org. Contact: Thor L. Halvorssen, FIRE: 215-717-3473; fireat_private James Leutze, Chancellor of UNC-W: 910-962-3030; leutzejat_private John C. Cavanaugh, Provost of UNC-W: 910-962-3389; cavanaughat_private Harold M. White, University Counsel, UNC-W: 910-962-3030; whitehat_private Mike Adams, Professor at UNC-W: 910-962-3425; adamsmat_private Rosa Fuller, student at UNC-W: rtf4733at_private --- From: "Thor Halvorssen" <thorat_private> To: <declanat_private> Subject: UNC-Wilmington Shames Itself Yet Again; Provost Responds by Denying What Occurred Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2001 17:47:10 -0500 To: Declan McCullagh From: Thor L. Halvorssen UNC-Wilmington Shames Itself Yet Again; Provost Responds to FIRE by Denying What Occurred WILMINGTON, NC--On December 19, 2001, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) issued a report on the investigation and invasion of privacy of a professor at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington (UNC-W). In response to growing criticism, the administration of UNC-W has begun an effort to conceal what occurred and to spin its way out of the public relations nightmare that has ensued from its outrageous conduct. Four days after the terrorist attacks on New York City and the Pentagon, a student, Rosa Turrisi Fuller, the daughter of Dr. Patricia Ann Turrisi, director of UNC-W's Center for Teaching Excellence, sent UNC-W Professor Mike Adams, and others, an email that blamed the United States for the attacks. She asked recipients to forward it to those interested in further "open" discussion. When the professor (and others) responded with criticism of her opinions, the student demanded that the University grant her access to the professor's private emails so that she could sue him for libel. As FIRE reported, UNC-W ordered the opening and examination of the private email letters of Professor Adams. UNC-W Provost John C. Cavanaugh, replying to critics, asserts that Professor Adams was never investigated, that he was never punished for his exercise of his First Amendment rights, that Professor Adams's expression was not stifled by the University, that they did not turn over any records to the student accuser, that the university was "forced" to comply with the student accusers' requests for documents, that Professor Adams praises UNC-W's actions, and that FIRE never "checked" with them or consulted any primary sources. All of these claims are undeniably and demonstrably false. FIRE is in possession of all of the documents referred to below. Here are the facts: * Releasing student and faculty email records: UNC-W claims that it did not turn over any records to the student accuser. In fact, on October 25, University Counsel Harold M. White, Jr. turned over a printout of the date and times of all of the emails sent by Professor Adams from September 17-September 18, 2001. The printout, the bottom line of which reads, "Printed for Hal White whitehat_private 10/22/01," details the identity and email addresses of everyone with whom Adams communicated, including nine on-campus and fourteen off-campus emails. A cover letter of October 25, 2001 from University Counsel White to Fuller, Adams's would-be persecutor, stated: "A list of these emails and the addresses to which they were sent are attached." * Investigation: The same letter of October 25, 2001 from University Counsel White to Fuller documents the extensive investigation not only of Professor Adams's email account, but also of the accounts of those with whom he corresponded. This official university investigation included "a review of the transmittal logs" by the Information Technology Systems Division (ITSD), a review of the on-campus "inboxes on our central computing facility (VAX)," and an inquiry into the content of students and faculty who corresponded with Adams. Finally, they "asked Dr. Adams [and others] to examine the logs on their personal PCs." Provost Cavanaugh himself, the Chancellor, the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, and the Vice Chancellor of ITSD were all copied on this letter. At approximately 11:00 AM on October 25, Professor Adams watched as, over his objections, university personnel, including Systems Programming Manager Michael Sheehan (who, according to Adams, objected to having to check Adams's email) and University Counsel Harold White, gathered his emails saved on the system and opened his email account. White reviewed the content of the only two emails they were able to retrieve. He had to review them almost in their entirety in order to decide that these emails were, after all, private and not part of the public record. A week before this invasion White went to Adams's office with a systems programmer to verify that Adams had not deleted any messages. White looked at both the outbox and the trash folder of Adams's office computer. This long process was precisely "an investigation." * Punishment: Invasion of privacy is a punishment. The University Counsel himself recognized this when he wrote in his October 25 letter that the investigation "caused predictable consternation, outrage and a feeling of violation and invasion of privacy on the part of those whose mail was to be inspected." At the very least, the University clearly understood the moral impropriety of what it was doing. Now that they are exposed, they will not concede the obvious point that violating someone's right to privacy is wrong, illegal, and a form of punishment. Indeed, as University Counsel wrote to Fuller, "both our student and our faculty member felt they were being coerced and 'forced,'" adding, "we did examine their inboxes over their objections pursuant to your request." * Chilling effect: The investigation into the constitutionally protected views and private correspondence of faculty and students stifled Adams and anyone else who uses email to communicate freely on campus. This action has made Professor Adams and, doubtless, many others at UNC-W fearful of expressing themselves too sincerely, lest they be investigated and punished, even if that expression is in a private email discussion. The failure to defend the primacy of free speech chills campus speech for everyone. * "We were forced to respond": UNC-W boasts that, on three occasions, it refused to violate the privacy of Professor Adams. However, they blithely concede that they capitulated on the student's fourth attempt. UNC-W, however, cannot claim that it was "forced" to do anything. It was never ordered by a court to release any information. UNC-W was not "forced" to betray the privacy rights of its professors and students. Rather, it simply decided to do so, and in University Counsel's letter of October 25 to Fuller, he even expressed regret that one private email could not be retrieved: "Unfortunately, Dr. King's inbox did not have the email from Dr. Adams." If there were some higher authority that commanded the University to take these actions, let them release these "instructions." The existence of very strong constitutional arguments and wholly clear moral arguments against letting a would-be censor press her demands contradict any claim by UNC-W that it was "forced" to comply. Indeed, if such an instruction had been issued, UNC-W should have resisted. It could have won a victory for speech and privacy, instead of capitulating to abusive authority. * Professor Adams does not defend UNC-W: In his response to critics, Provost Cavanaugh claims that Professor Adams defended UNC-W's actions on national television. In fact, when Professor Adams appeared on the news show "Hannity and Colmes," the appearance to which Cavanaugh refers, he praised precisely the *initial* actions of UNC-W when it denied the accuser's request. On that very show, however, Professor Adams called the University's subsequent action an "intrusion," and commented on the "serious chilling effect on free speech." Today, Professor Adams contacted FIRE to reiterate his belief that UNC-W has wronged him, chilled his speech, and violated his privacy. Indeed, he further stated that UNC-W continues to retaliate against him for allowing FIRE to take his case public. UNC-W had ample opportunity to respond and to dispute FIRE's position. On November 8, 2001, FIRE sent letters to the UNC-W administration and trustees, including Provost Cavanaugh, which covered all of the above claims in great detail and invited the University to comment. On December 3, 2001, forty more letters discussing the troubling aspects of this case were sent to the various parties. Again FIRE invited a response, and pleaded with the University not to humiliate itself further by its assaults on liberty, due process, and decency. Furthermore, FIRE's conclusions are based primarily on the internal documents of the case, including UNC-W's own letters and statements. What UNC-W is denying is the very set of signed official documents and correspondence that carried out and boasted about this injustice. FIRE is a nonprofit educational foundation that unites civil rights and civil liberties leaders, scholars, journalists, and public intellectuals from across the political and ideological spectrum on behalf of individual rights, due process, freedom of expression, academic freedom, and rights of conscience on our campuses. Copies of FIRE's letters to UNC-W are available at www.thefire.org. Contact: Thor L. Halvorssen, FIRE: 215-717-3473; fireat_private James Leutze, Chancellor of UNC-W: 910-962-3030; leutzejat_private Harold M. White, University Counsel, UNC-W: 910-962-3030; whitehat_private John C. Cavanaugh, Provost of UNC-W: 910-962-3389; cavanaughat_private Mike Adams, Professor at UNC-W: 910-962-3425; adamsmat_private --- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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