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U.S. NEWS Saturday 7 July 2018

Wisconsin high court sides with fired conservative professor

By IVAN MORENO McAdams sued the univer- and provided McAdams
Associated Press sity in 2016, arguing that with a recording he secret-
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A for- he lost his job for exercis- ly made of a conversation
mer Marquette University ing freedom of speech. with the teacher after the
professor who wrote a blog Marquette said he wasn’t class.
post criticizing a student fired for the content of his That formed the basis for
instructor he believed shut 2014 post, but because he McAdams’ post, in which
down debate against gay named the instructor and he argued that the stu-
marriage shouldn’t have linked to her personal web- dents’ experience was
lost his job because of what site that had personal iden- another example of liber-
he published, the Wisconsin tifying information. als silencing people whose
Supreme Court ruled Fri- “That’s not academic free- opinions they disagree
day. dom. That’s cyberbullying,” with or find offensive. The
The 120-page decision Ralph Weber, Marquette’s post included the student-
concluded that the private attorney, said Friday. teacher’s name, a link to
Catholic school breached The instructor, a graduate her personal website and
its contract with professor student, later received a her email address. In this May 2, 2016, file photo Marquette University professor
John McAdams that guar- flood of hateful messages In its Friday ruling, the John McAdams speaks at a news conference in Milwaukee.
anteed academic free- and threats, and at one court’s conservative ma- Associated Press
dom and that he should point needed a security jority said McAdams’ blog ness that followed his blog He said McAdams intends
be immediately reinstated. guard stationed outside post can’t be blamed for post. He knew what would to teach again at Mar-
The university said it would her class. She eventually the harassment against the happen, and he actively quette, though it’s unclear
comply with the ruling. moved to another universi- instructor. ensured that it would hap- when that will happen.
The court’s 4-2 decision ty where she had to repeat “Just because vile com- pen,” the dissenting justices McAdams published his
came down on ideological three semesters and revise mentary followed the blog wrote. post on his personal web-
lines, with the conservative her Ph.D. thesis. post does not mean the They called McAdams’ be- site, “Marquette Warrior,”
majority siding with McAd- The case has been closely blog post instigated or in- havior reckless and con- which he has used for more
ams. Those justices said the watched by conservatives vited the vileness,” the ma- trary to the university’s pro- than a decade to con-
faculty panel that recom- who see universities as lib- jority’s written opinion said. fessional standards. demn political correctness
mended his discipline had eral havens, as well as pri- Liberal justices who dis- McAdams’ attorney, Rick and the silencing of ideas
an “unacceptable bias” vate businesses that want sented said conservatives Esenberg, said he dis- that might be hurtful to pro-
because one member had control over employee dis- ignored the fact that Mc- agreed with the liberal jus- tected classes, according
publicly expressed support cipline. Adams promoted his post tices’ conclusion that aca- to his lawsuit against the
for the graduate instructor. In the November 2014 blog to national media outlets demic freedom shouldn’t school.
The liberal justices called post, McAdams described knowing the backlash the protect the professor from McAdams was given the
the decision “far reaching” an interaction between a student could receive, discipline. chance to return to work
and said academic free- conservative student and once writing that when “I think it’s just flat wrong. after his suspension, provid-
dom “does not protect Mc- a graduate student instruc- something gets wide- The whole purpose of ac- ed he write a letter apolo-
Adams from discipline” if his tor of philosophy. The stu- spread attention, it’s pos- ademic freedom is to al- gizing for his conduct. The
peers concluded he acted dent claimed the instructor sible “some jerks are going low people in the univer- letter was to be shared
unprofessionally. One jus- refused to allow discussion to say nasty things.” sity community to express confidentially with the stu-
tice didn’t participate in about opposition to gay “McAdams indeed did ‘in- themselves without fear of dent instructor, but McAd-
the ruling. marriage during a class stigate’ or ‘invite’ the vile- sanctions,” he said. ams refused to write it.q

Court: Louisiana oil pipeline construction can continue

By KEVIN McGILL and MI- can continue under a fed- of the Bayou Bridge Pipe- project opponents is re- groups, including Atchafa-
CHAEL KUNZELMAN eral appeals court decision line. solved. laya Basinkeeper, Water-
Associated Press handed down Friday. The 2-1 decision was a vic- But her injunction was sus- keeper Alliance, The Gulf
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Con- A divided panel of the 5th tory for Bayou Bridge Pipe- pended by a 5th Circuit Restoration Network and
struction of a crude oil pipe- U.S. Circuit Court of Ap- line LLC, whose lawyers had panel in March, so con- the Sierra Club. They sued
line through Louisiana’s peals vacated a lower urged the panel to throw struction continued even Bayou Bridge Pipeline LLC
environmentally fragile court’s preliminary injunc- out U.S. District Judge Shelly before Friday’s ruling. and the U.S. Army Corps
Atchafalaya Basin swamp tion blocking construction Dick’s injunction in April. The company recently told of Engineers. The lawsuit
Dick issued a preliminary the court that it expects to says the Corps violated the
injunction in February stop- complete construction by Clean Water Act and other
ping pipeline construction October. environmental laws when it
in the Atchafalaya Basin The decision comes in a approved a permit for the
swamp until a lawsuit by lawsuit by environmental project.q

In this Friday, April 27, 2018 photo, a old logging canal cuts
through Bayou Sorrel in the Atchafalaya River Basin in Louisiana.
Associated Press