Did Ward Churchill verdict kill free speech at universities?

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The Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to reject Ward Churchill’s appeal could signal a dark day for the Bill of Rights, says Wendy Kaminer for The Atlantic.

Churchill’s case hinges on his comments after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when he said the victims were “little Eichmanns” complicit in killings across the Middle East. The uproar that followed, Churchill alleged (and the courts agreed), inspired the University of Colorado to fire him.

But they couldn’t just fire him for saying something they didn’t like. So the university dug up alleged issues with Churchill’s research and fired him for misconduct. But while the courts have found that Churchill was fired improperly, they awarded him only $1 and — more importantly — decided not to tell CU to hire him back.

See the analysis at The Atlantic.