Tag Archives: ZZ: Adams v The Trustees of the University of North Carolina-Wilmington

WECT.com: “No university should refuse promotion to an accomplished professor simply because it disagrees with his religious and political views,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Vice President Jordan Lorence. The group is representing Adams in his lawsuit.

Travis C. Barham at Speak Up Movement: After over six years of litigation, Mike Adams has won the right to present his retaliation case to a jury of his peers. Back in 2006, he was denied promotion to full professor at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington.

One News Now: David French, senior counsel with Alliance Defense Fund, says the Fourth Circuit’s overturning of that ruling is good for the educational community. “We’re extremely pleased by this decision,” says the attorney. “It vindicates academic freedom not only for Dr. Adams, but for all professors; and it reestablishes the principle that the university is a marketplace of ideas. [Alert editor: Note to the reader - David French is now legal counsel with the ACLJ]

ADF Media Information Page: Adams v. The Trustees of the University of North Carolina-Wilmington resource page

ADF attorney Doug Napier on the Hugh Hewitt Show.| MP3 audio 5:39 mins | Decision Points: An Evening with George W. Bush | Thousands of children’s educations saved at U.S. Supreme Court | Victory for academic freedom: 4th Circuit says professor’s speeches, columns protected by First Amendment

David Moshman at the Huffington Post: Adams appealed the summary judgment with the support of the Alliance Defense Fund, the American Association of University Professors, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, and the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression. On April 6 the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed with respect to Adams’ First Amendment claim, ruling that the First Amendment did apply to the speech in question and so the case must go to trial.

Mike Adams at Townhall: Some told us we should just give up. Others told us we should simply accept the federal judge’s decision and resign ourselves to the fact that the First Amendment is now dead on our college campuses. But the Alliance Defense Fund took my case to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in January. And, last week, they issued a landmark defense of First Amendment rights for faculty at public colleges and universities. For the first time in years, I’m getting love mail from liberals.

Christian Post: The ruling is a huge win for Adams and French. “The 4th Circuit’s decision is a ringing vindication of the academic freedom of public university professors,” French stated. “Disagreeing with an accomplished professor’s religious and political views is no grounds for refusing him promotion.”

The Chronicle of Higher Education: David A. French, who, as senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, helped represent Mr. Adams in the case, on Wednesday cheered the Fourth Circuit’s ruling as “a ringing victory for academic freedom,” with language that “is very clear, and not only binding in the Fourth Circuit but, I hope, quite persuasive to the other circuits.” The ruling “deals a real blow to the idea that professors’ speech is somehow wholly owned by the university. It is not,” said Mr. French, whose organization, an Arizona-based alliance of Christian lawyers and like-minded groups, took up the case partly because Mr. Adams had accused the university of religious discrimination.

Inside Higher Ed: David French, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, issued a statement calling Wednesday’s decision “a ringing vindication of the academic freedom of public university professors. Disagreeing with an accomplished professor’s religious and political views is no grounds for refusing him promotion. Opinion columns are among the purest examples of free speech protected by the First Amendment.”

One News Now: ADF senior counsel David French argued before the court on Adams’ behalf. “Christian professors should not be discriminated against because of their beliefs,” French states, “and this decision thoroughly upholds that principle.” French calls the circuit court’s decision “a ringing vindication” of the academic freedom of public university professors.

Warrne Moore at the American Culture: “In an interesting side note, Adams was represented by David French, of the Alliance Defense Fund, an organization dealing in religious liberty issues. French is also a pundit, and he happens to live in a portion of my ancestral domain.”

Decision against UNC-Wilmington sets significant precedent protecting professors who express their views on religious, political topics

Travis Barham at the Speak Up Movement University Blog: A University of North Carolina–Wilmington professor’s speeches and columns are fully protected by the First Amendment, according to a published decision handed down Wednesday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. Alliance Defense Fund attorneys contended that criminology professor Mike Adams was denied a promotion unconstitutionally because university officials were hostile to the religious and political views he espoused in his columns and speeches . . .

Eugene Volokh at the Volokh Conspiracy: And the Fourth Circuit held that, when it comes to public university professor employment decisions, Garcetti doesn’t apply, and a professor speaking on matters of public concern can’t be discriminated against based in employment unless the speech is seen as unduly disruptive (under the Pickering test) . . . Now I’m not sure what the right First Amendment answer when it comes to university decisions that are based on evaluations of a candidate’s scholarly work . . .

ADF attorney David French appeared on the Zeb Bell Show to discuss this: Renowned professor challenges promotion denial over religion in appellate hearing. | MP3 audio 22:46 mins

The Seahawk: For this lawsuit, Adams is working with the Alliance Defense Fund, a legal alliance dedicated to defending religious freedom.
“If we [Adams and the ADF] don’t win this time, you can be reasonably confident that we’ll take UNCW to the Supreme Court,” Adams said.

One News Now: “Essentially the issue is whether a conservative Christian professor has any First Amendment protection for his writings as a columnist and his public speeches that he delivers,” the attorney explains. “The university literally argued that his writings and his speeches were not protected by the First Amendment.”

Charisma: “‘Christian professors should not be discriminated against because of their beliefs. Disagreeing with an accomplished professor’s religious and political views is no grounds for refusing him promotion,’ says [ADF attorney David French]. ‘Opinion columns are some of the clearest examples of free speech protected by the First Amendment. Mentioning them on a promotion application does not change that.’”

“ADF is representing UNC criminology professor Mike Adams, who contends that he was unconstitutionally denied a promotion because his application referenced his nationally syndicated opinion columns that espoused religious and political views not held by university officials.”

ADF attorney David French writing at Phi Beta Cons: “Coming on the heels of June Sheldon’s $100,000 settlement after San Jose Community College fired her for providing a (literally) textbook answer to questions about the origin of homosexual desire, it’s becoming clear that religious discrimination in academia is growing increasingly costly (and those figures don’t include the considerable sums the universities paid to outside counsel to defend their illegal conduct).”

Lisa De Pasquale interviews Dr. Mike Adams at Human Events. Excerpt from her introduction: “Adams has paid a price for being an outspoken conservative. With the help of the Alliance Defense Fund he is appealing a judge’s decision to dismiss his 2007 suit against UNC-Wilmington. ADF stated, ‘The suit contends the university denied Adams a promotion because his nationally syndicated opinion columns espoused religious and political views out of step with the opinions of university officials.’”

Minnesota Public Radio: “One of the hot debates in academia is now reaching the courts. The question: Do universities discriminate against religious conservatives? Some professors and students say they do, but it’s not an easy charge to pin down . . . [Mike] Adams teaches criminology at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. A few years ago, he began writing strongly worded op-ed pieces expressing conservative views on religious and political issues. When he applied for promotion to full professor, his colleagues voted him down. [David French], an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative legal group, says there’s an upsurge of these cases. ‘The secular public schools are almost becoming, for lack of a better term, quasi-religious in their outlook and devotion to one particular worldview and excluding all those who disagree,’ French says.”

NPR: “Contrary to the stereotype that most scientists are atheists, [Elaine Howard Ecklund] says, nearly half of them say they are religious. But when she did follow up interviews, she found they practice a ‘closeted faith.’ ‘They just do not want to bring up that they are religious in an academic discussion. There’s somewhat of almost a culture of suppression surrounding discussions of religion at these kinds of academic institutions,’ Ecklund says . . . ‘The secular public schools are almost becoming, for lack of a better term, quasi-religious in their outlook and devotion to one particular worldview and excluding all those who disagree,’ [ADF Attorney David French] says.”

Donald A. Downs writing at the The John William Pope Center: “An important free speech and academic freedom case merits attention because it appears to portend an erosion of the protection professors have traditionally enjoyed for their writings. The case is serious enough that the plaintiff, Michael Adams, has won the support of several free-speech groups: the American Association of University Professors, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, and the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, in addition to the Alliance Defense Fund, which is representing him. … Tenure and promotion cases can present difficult issues of judgment and departmental discretion regarding quality of work, defying simplistic determination. I do not know enough about the facts in this case to render a confident opinion about who is right or wrong, but the methodology employed by the court reflects a growing problem in the realm of academic freedom that cries out for attention.” | Via Speak Up Movement.

One News Now: “A professor in North Carolina who claims he was denied a promotion because he wrote some religious and conservative-leaning opinion columns is receiving broad support from academic circles. After a judge ruled against Dr. Mike Adams in a lawsuit he filed against the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, the criminology professor decided to appeal the decision. The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) is representing him, and litigation counsel Travis Barham more deeply explains the reason for the suit . . . ”

ADF Attorney Travis C. Barham writing at Speak Up Movement / University: “Back in March, a federal district court in North Carolina ruled that Dr. Mike Adams’ nationally syndicated columns were not protected by the First Amendment. … Well, the next chapter in Dr. Adams’ quest to end discrimination against Christian and conservative professors has now unfolded. Last week, ADF filed the opening brief in his appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. And just days ago, the American Association of University Professors, FIRE, and the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression filed a friend of the court brief on his behalf.”

Inside Higher Ed / Quick Takes: Mike Adams, a conservative, Christian professor who believes his promotion to full professor at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington was derailed because of opposition to his views, is getting broad backing on a key point in his legal fight. … Adams has been receiving support from the Alliance Defense Fund.

The Alliance Defense Fund has received the support of three significant organizations in its defense of a criminology professor whose opinion columns were determined by a judge to be unprotected by the First Amendment simply because he made reference to them in a promotion application.

ADF Attorney Joe Martins writing at Speak Up Movement / University: “Today, Peter Schmidt has an excellent article at the Chronicle of Higher Education on the efforts of various professors to shore up academic freedom at their respective universities. This effort is entirely understandable, but I fear will ultimately prove ineffective. … Given the practical shortcomings of institutional protections, it appears this matter needs to be settled by the Supreme Court. For almost half a century before Garcetti, the Court recognized the ‘transcendent value’ of academic freedom and the special place it holds in the First Amendment. The Court needs to clarify that Garcetti did not change this precedent and that the viewpoint of professors’ scholarship and teaching is still protected by the Constitution. The ADF Center for Academic Freedom is currently appealing this precise issue to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit for Dr. Adams because the district court wrongly used Garcetti to quash his First Amendment rights. For the sake of academic freedom, let’s hope the Fourth Circuit—and ultimately the Supreme Court—get it right.”

ADF Attorney Travis C. Barham writing at Speak Up Movement / University: “Both Inside Higher Ed and Minding the Campus highlight the latest example of academia serving as a network of leftist think tanks. The ‘Cry Wolf Project’—organized by ‘prominent liberal academics’—is trying to rally faculty and graduate students to do ‘battle with conservative ideas.’ That is, the organizers will pay $1,000 for essays supposedly showing how conservatives ‘cry wolf’ by exaggerating the consequences of leftist public policy proposals. K.C. Johnson at Minding the Campus notes the organizer’s almost comically inflated sense of self importance and skewed definition of ‘scholarship.’ But this project illustrates a more disturbing divide between faculty who can speak freely and those who cannot.”

North Carolina Family Policy Council: “‘Christian professors should not be discriminated against because of their beliefs. Disagreeing with an accomplished professor’s religious and political views is no grounds for refusing him promotion,’ said ADF Senior Counsel [David French].”

Washington Times: “Mike Adams isn’t exactly the most popular guy on campus. He’s an outspoken conservative Christian who cried discrimination when his department refused to promote him to full professor and slapped the University of North Carolina at Wilmington with a lawsuit . . . The Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based organization of Christian lawyers, plans to appeal the ruling to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.”

WorldNetDaily: “Dr. Mike Adams was on the academic fast track while serving the University of North Carolina-Wilmington as an atheist, but after the professor converted to Christianity in 2000, he alleges, the college put the clamps on his career . . . ‘Christian professors should not be discriminated against because of their beliefs,’ said [David French], senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, which is representing Adams in the case. ‘Disagreeing with an accomplished professor’s religious and political views is no grounds for refusing him promotion.’” | ADF News Release

ADF Attorney David French appeared on Focal Point with Bryan Fischer to discuss Adams v. The Trustees of the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. University of North Carolina-Wilmington Mike Adams was denied promotion to full professor “because of his religious beliefs and political viewpoints, as espoused through nationally syndicated opinion columns that he has written.” | The mp3 runs about 12 and a half minutes. | ADF News Release: ADF appeals decision that ruled professor’s opinion columns unprotected by First Amendment

“The judge found last month that his columns are not protected by the First Amendment simply because he made reference to them on a promotion application.”

ADF attorney David French appeared on the Hugh Hewitt Show to discuss this: Judge rules professor’s opinion columns not protected by First Amendment.

The MP3 runs about 5 1/2 minutes.

ADF Attorney David French writing at Phi Beta Cons: “The most crucial aspect of the court’s ruling was its finding that Mike’s Townhall.com columns were work-related speech and not protected by the First Amendment because he mentioned that he was a columnist in his application to become a full professor at the University . . . The court’s ruling represents a distortion of the Supreme Court’s holding in Garcetti v. Ceballos. While the Garcetti court sharply limited protection for ‘expression made pursuant to official responsibilities,’ the Court also expressly reserved whether the doctrine had any application in the academic freedom context. In Mike’s case the trial court brushed straight past the Supreme Court’s reservations and left no refuge for academic freedom.”

OneNewsNow: “[Jordan Lorence], senior counsel with Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), believes UNC-Wilmington refused to promote Dr. Adams because of his religious beliefs and political viewpoints, as espoused through his columns at TownHall.com and elsewhere . . . ‘And if we do appeal, we would go up to the federal appeals court and [argue that it] should not have been decided in this summary, one-sided fashion in favor of the university,’ explains the ADF attorney. ‘There should have been a trial before a jury to understand . . . the true motives of the school officials in denying the full professorship to Dr. Adams.’”

The Emerging Scholars Blog: “Evaporating First Amendment? (Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, March 18) – Jaschik takes a look at the case of Mike Adams, the conservative criminology professor at UNC-Wilmington who argues that he was denied promotion because of his conservative Christian beliefs. His lawsuit against the school was recently rejected by a federal judge. (See the Alliance Defense Fund’s statement on the ruling.)”

Inside Higher Ed: “In the latest ruling, a federal judge rejected a suit by Mike Adams, an associate professor of criminal justice at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington who charged that he was denied promotion to full professor because of his conservative, Christian views . . . The Alliance Defense Fund, which has been backing Adams, issued a statement Monday in which Jordan Lorence, one of its lawyers, said: ‘We disagree with the court’s assessment that Dr. Adams’s speech is somehow not protected by the Constitution. Opinion columns are classic examples of free speech protected by the First Amendment, and mentioning them on a promotion application does not change this fact.’”

The Chronicle of Higher Education: “A federal court has rejected a claim that the University of North Carolina at Wilmington committed viewpoint discrimination against Michael S. Adams, a prominent conservative commentator and associate professor of criminology, by denying him a promotion based partly on its review of online columns and other expressions of opinion that he included in his application to move up the ranks . . . ‘We disagree with the court’s assessment that Dr. Adams’s speech is somehow not protected by the Constitution,’ Jordan Lorence, a senior counsel for the alliance, said in the statement. ‘Opinion columns are classic examples of free speech protected by the First Amendment, and mentioning them in a promotion application does not change this fact.’”

“A federal judge ruled Monday that nationally syndicated opinion columns written by a criminology professor at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington are not protected by the First Amendment because he referred to them on a promotion application.”