Ward Churchill is expected to get the boot today. Then, he plans of suing.
Ward Churchill’s own lawyer expects the tenured University of Colorado professor to be fired on Tuesday. “Ward Churchill will be fired, and Wednesday, I’ll be filing a lawsuit” over free-speech rights,” the Denver Post quoted attorney David Lane as saying.
Churchill is claiming he is not being fired because he “plagiarized, fabricated and falsified some of his research and writings” but because he “described the [9/11] victims as “technocrats” and “little Eichmanns” (Nazis).”
The ACLU argues that the University of Colorado had no grounds to fire Churchill for his unpopular comments, so it kept digging into his scholarship — “in an effort to find more defensible grounds for sanctioning him.”
I wonder if they held the same position for Lewis Libby.
I don’e see how a lawsuit claiming his First Amendment rights were violated is going to stand. They would have to prove that Churchill was not fired because of his research, but because of his statements. And then, if he made the statements, his First Amendment rights were not violated. Besides, the First Amendment says “Congress shall make no law,” not “the University of Colorado shall make no law.” UC could tell their teachers to keep their pie-holes shut. You don’t have to work for them.
Churchill just needs to take his firing like a man. You can choose your actions, but you can’t choose the consequences. Dust off your resume, Ward. It’s time to go job hunting.
