Prof's anti-Latino e-mails: harassment or free speech? - USATODAY.com: Overturning the ruling of a lower court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has granted Arizona's Maricopa Community College District immunity from a lawsuit filed by a group of Latino professors who charged that college officials had not sufficiently disciplined a colleague who sent e-mails they viewed as discriminatory.
Chief Judge Alex Kozinski's opinion Thursday on behalf of a three-judge panel is a strong endorsement of academic freedom. It argues that 'courts must defer to colleges' decision to err on the side of academic freedom.' In doing so, the opinion defends the decision by Glendale Community College and Maricopa Community College District officials not to discipline or dismiss Walter Kehowski, a Glendale mathematics professor who 'sent three racially charged' e-mails via the institution-maintained distribution list.
