April 2009
Chief Judge Larry Naves
Denver District Court
1437 Bannock St.
Denver, CO 80202
cc: David Lane, Esq
.
Re: Churchill v. University of Colorado
Dear Judge Naves:
We, the undersigned professors and attorneys, urge you to grant Professor Ward Churchill’s motion for reinstatement at the University of Colorado.
On April 2, 2009 the jury in this case found that Ward Churchill’s exercise of freedom of speech was a substantial or motivating factor in his dismissal. Furthermore, the jury found that had it not been for Professor Churchill’s controversial essay, which is clearly protected by the First Amendment, the Regents of the University of Colorado (CU) would not have fired him for research misconduct.
Under these circumstances, allowing the University to preclude Professor Churchill’s return to campus would send the message that the First Amendment and academic tenure can be abridged at will by public employers.
Reinstatement is the usual, or “preferred,” remedy in cases such as this. As federal courts of appeal have noted,
When a person loses his job, it is at best disingenuous to say that money damages can suffice to make that person whole.... We also note that reinstatement is an effective deterrent in preventing employer retaliation against employees who exercise their constitutional rights. If an employer's best efforts to remove an employee for unconstitutional reasons are presumptively unlikely to succeed, there is, of course, less incentive to use employment decisions to chill the exercise of constitutional rights.
Squires v. Bonser, 54 F.3d 168, 173 (3rd Cir. 1995), quoting Allen v. Autauga County Board of Education, 685 F.2d 1302, 1306 (11th Cir. 1982), and also citing Banks v. Burkich, 788 F.2d 1161, 1164 (6th Cir.1986) (“The prospect of money damages will not be sufficient for many employees to overcome the otherwise chilling effect that accompanies the threat of termination.”).
In this case, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP)’s national council has passed a resolution which states, “We believe the disputes over Ward Churchill’s publications should have been allowed to work themselves out in traditional scholarly venues, not referred to disciplinary hearings. We believe Churchill should be reinstated to his faculty position at the University of Colorado.”
In opposing reinstatement, University of Colorado officials continue to rely upon the conclusions of their investigative committee, whose report has been discredited not only by the evidence introduced at trial and the jury’s findings, but by numerous charges of research misconduct against its authors.
The University also claims that returning Professor Churchill to his job will cause excessive disruption on campus, a prediction that seems more smokescreen than actuality. Professors work relatively independently and students are free to take or refuse to take particular classes. In his nearly 30 years of service to CU, Professor Churchill received numerous awards for both teaching and service to the University. He continued to teach during the height of the controversy in 2005 and, at the students’ request, taught a successful voluntary class in 2007-2008.
Speculative allegations of disruption should not be a means by which the University can continue to retaliate against Professor Churchill for his protected speech. Invoking similar claims in February 2005, CU administrators attempted to cancel a speech by Professor Churchill, yet the event took place without incident. To the extent that any disruptions are anticipated, it is the University’s responsibility to minimize those disruptions and ensure a smooth transition back to the workplace for Professor Churchill.
In sum, we believe that the chilling effect of the actions of the University of Colorado can only be effectively deterred by granting reinstatement to Professor Churchill, and hope that you will reinforce the importance of the First Amendment in academia by so ordering.
Signed:
[institutional affiliations listed only for identification purposes]
Matthew Abraham
DePaul University
Robert Aponte
Indiana University, Indianapolis
Sima Aprahamian
Concordia University, Montreal, Québec
William Ayers
University of Illinois at Chicago
Sylvat Aziz
Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario
Leonard Baca
University of Colorado at Boulder
Tithi Bhattacharya
Purdue University
Derrick Bell
New York University School of Law
Francis A. Beer
University of Colorado at Boulder (emeritus)
Piers Beirne
University of Southern Maine
Phil Bellfy
Michigan State University
Michael Bérubé
Pennsylvania State University
Steven Best
University of Texas, El Paso
Marc Bilodeau
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Carl Boggs
National University, Los Angeles
Patrick Bond
University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
Ken Bonetti
University of Colorado at Boulder
Kathleen Buddle-Crowe
University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Loretta Capeheart
Northeastern Illinois University
Edward J. Carvalho
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Steve Chase
Antioch University New England, New Hampshire
Piya Chatterjee
University of California at Riverside
Michele Cheung
University of Southern Maine
Eric Cheyfitz
Cornell University
Sumi Cho
DePaul University College of Law
Aziz Choudry
McGill University, Montreal, Québec
Roland Chrisjohn
St. Thomas University, Fredericton, New Brunswick
Kathleen Cleaver
Yale University
Dana L. Cloud
University of Texas
Juan Cole
University of Michigan
Renee Ann Cramer
Drake University
James M. Craven/Omahkohkiaayo i’poyi
Clark College, Washington
Andrea Curcio
Georgia State University College of Law
Ken Cunningham
Pennsylvania State University
Eve Darien-Smith
University of California – Santa Barbara
Stuart Davis
Cornell University
Richard J.F. Day
Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario
Edwin E. Daniel
McMaster University (emeritus), Hamilton, Ontario
Brett de Bary
Cornell University
Nicolas De Genova
Columbia University
Susan Deer Cloud
Goddard College, Vermont
Jay F. Custer
University of Delaware
Richard J.F. Day
Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario
Richard Delgado
Seattle University School of Law
Richard A. Dello Buono
New College of Florida
Jualynne E. Dodson
Michigan State University
David B. Downing
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Pamela Edwards
CUNY School of Law
Nancy Ehrenreich
University of Denver College of Law
Anne Emanuel
Georgia State University College of Law
Richard Falk
Princeton University (emeritus)
University of California – Santa Barbara
Anthony Paul Farley
Albany Law School
Philip Gasper
Madison Area Technical College
Irene Gendzier
Boston University
Carol Gigliotti
Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Vancouver, B.C.
Henry A. Giroux
McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario
Heide Goettner-Abendroth
International Academy HAGIA, Germany
Alan Eladio Gómez
Arizona State University
Laura Suzanne Gordon
University of Maryland (UMCP)
Neil Gotanda
Western State University College of Law
Gil Gott
DePaul University
Jennifer Harbury
Attorney and Author, Weslaco, Texas
Christine B. Harrington
New York University
Angela Harris
University of California-Berkeley (Law)
Sumi Hasegawa
McGill University, Montreal, Québec
Amir Hassanpour
University of Toronto, Ontario
Emily M.S. Houh
University of Cincinnati College of Law
Evelyn Hu-DeHart
Brown University
Myron Hulen
Colorado State University (emeritus)
Cecil J. Hunt, II
John Marshall Law School, Chicago
Adrienne Carey Hurley
McGill University, Montreal, Québec
Arnold Itwaru
University of Toronto, Ontario
Moana Jackson
Attorney, Wellington, Aotearoa/New Zealand
Amina Jamal
Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario
Yasmin Jiwani
Concordia University, Montreal, Québec
Ralph Johansen
Attorney, California
Richard G. Jones, Jr.
University of Denver
Richard Kahn
University of North Dakota
Tania Ka’ai
Auckland University of Technology, Aotearoa/New Zealand
Lilikala Kame’eleihiwa
University of Hawai’i, Manoa
Aisha Karim
Saint Xavier University
Walda Katz-Fishman
Howard University
William Keach
Brown University
Kamala Kempadoo
York University, Toronto, Ontario
Assunta Kent
University of Southern Maine
Rashid Khalidi
Columbia University
Gary Kinsman
Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario
Peter N. Kirstein
St. Xavier University
Philip A. Korth
Michigan State University (emeritus)
Eiko Kosasa
Leeward Community College, Hawai‘i
Julian Kunnie
University of Arizona
Thomas Lamarre
McGill University, Montreal, Québec
Kathy Larson
DePaul University
Tracy J. Lassiter
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Mark A. Lause
University of Cincinnati
Sylvia R. Lazos
University of Nevada Las Vegas School of Law
Andrew Leong
University of Massachusetts – Boston
Philip E. Lewis
Cornell University (emeritus)
Abby Lippman
McGill University, Montreal, Québec
Yosefa Loshitzky
University of East London, London, U.K.
Alex Lubin
University of New Mexico
Rashmi Luther
Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario
Holly Maguigan
New York University School of Law
Tayyab Mahmud
Seattle University Law School
Harriet Malinowitz
Long Island University
Mahmood Mamdani
Columbia University
Barbara Alice Mann
University of Toledo
Egla Martinez
Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario
Barry Maxwell
Cornell University
Tom Mayer
University of Colorado at Boulder
Patrick McGreevy
American University of Beirut
James W. Messerschmidt
University of Southern Maine
Scott Michaelsen
Michigan State University
David R. Montano
University of Denver
Bill V. Mullen
Purdue University
Timothy Murray
Cornell University
Mary-Jo Nadeau
Trent University, Ontario, Canada
Mechthild Nagel
SUNY Cortland
Cary Nelson
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Kenneth B. Nunn
University of Florida College of Law
Jackie Orr
Syracuse University
Reeve Parker
Cornell University
Michael Perelman
California State University, Chico
Emma Pérez
University of Colorado at Boulder
Robert R. Perkinson
University of Hawai‘i
Peter Philips
University of Utah
Peter Phillips
Sonoma State University
Vijay Prashad
Trinity College, Connecticut
Craig Proulx
St. Thomas University, Fredericton, New Brunswick
John Rapko
San Francisco Art Institute
Richard C. Rath
University of Hawa‘i at Manoa
Sherene Razack
University of Toronto, Ontario
Marcus Rediker
University of Pittsburgh
Adolph Reed, Jr.
University of Pennsylvania
Tom Regan
North Carolina State University (emeritus)
Roddey Reid
University of California, San Diego
Carter Revard
Washington University, St. Louis
Héctor R. Reyes
Harold Washington College, Chicago
Heidi M. Rimke
University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Reginald Leamon Robinson
Howard University School of Law
Steven L. Robinson
Attorney, California
David Roediger
University of Illinois
Victor C. Romero
Penn State University School of Law
Andrew Ross
New York University
Joel W. Russell
Oakland University
Naoki Sakai
Cornell University
Rosaura Sanchez
University of California, San Diego
Rik Scarce
Skidmore College
Malini Johar Schueller
University of Florida
Helen Scott
University of Vermont
Deric Shannon
University of Connecticut
Stephen Sheehi
University of South Carolina
Snehal Shingavi
University of Mary Washington
David Siar
Winston-Salem State University
Mary Lou and Dan Smoke
University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario
David E. Stannard
University of Hawai‘i
Jean Stefancic
Seattle University School of Law
James P. Sterba
University of Notre Dame
Sunera Thobani
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C.
Tink Tinker
Iliff School of Theology
Haunani-Kay Trask
University of Hawai‘i
Mililani B. Trask
Attorney, Hilo, Hawai‘i
Misako Uesaka
McGill University, Montreal, Québec
Akinyele Umoja
Georgia State University
Edward Valandra
University of South Dakota
Sharon H. Venne
Attorney, Edmonton, Alberta
Immanuel Wallerstein
Yale University
Adam John Waterman
American University of Beirut
Phillip E. Wegner
University of Florida
Ed White
University of Florida
Robert A. Williams, Jr.
University of Arizona College of Law
Eric Yamamoto
University of Hawai‘i School of Law
Yavuz Yasar
University of Denver
Michael Yellow Bird
University of Kansas
