Image 01 Image 03
Sign In or RegisterLogout

Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

/var/www/vhosts/legalinsurrection.com/httpdocs/wp-content/themes/bridge-child/readFeeds.incFALSE

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 22, 2013 9 Comments
Note: This post originally was to list just a few statements from university Presidents, but as it has expanded it now will be the repository to gather the statements as a source for others. The title -- but not the url -- has been changed as has some of the text. Check our other post for the complete list: List of Universities rejecting academic boycott of Israel The list of Universities condemning the academic boycott of Israel passed by the American Studies Association and two smaller academic groups is growing.  New announcements are being made daily, although I expect a lull in new announcements as most universities are closed until after New Year's Day. Here are some of the announcements and email statements: Indiana University (additional statement below)
.... As you may know, President McRobbie has publicly voiced his opposition to any boycott of Israeli institutions. The AAU and the AAUP have both voted to oppose any such boycotts and we fully support both actions. We are investigating the nature of the IUs institutional membership in the ASA and will continue to monitor this situation closely.... Kelly A. Kish, Ph.D. Deputy Chief of Staff Office of the President Indiana University
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University is deeply troubled and dismayed that the American Studies Association (ASA) , among others, has engaged in a boycott of Israeli academic institutions We believe strongly that a boycott of academic institutions directly violates academic freedom, which is not only one of our university’s fundamental principles but one of American higher education in general. This boycott clearly violates the academic freedom not only of Israeli scholars but also of American scholars who might be pressured to comply with it. We have made this position clear to the ASA.... Washington University is a member of the Association of American Universities which issued a statement today. I completely endorse their statement.... Mark S. Wrighton, Ph.D. Chancellor and Professor of Chemistry

LATEST NEWS

Posted by Mandy Nagy on December 22, 2013 5 Comments
This story has started making the rounds the last day or two, and I thought it would make a nice feel-good story to share with LI readers.  Be sure to watch the video after the jump for the full story. A little girl's Christmas wish will be answered after a red balloon carrying her letter to Santa floated its way through the sky to a good samaritan with an interesting connection to the girl's first name. From FOX 5 San Diego:
A kindergarten class sent Santa their Christmas wish lists, but one letter didn’t make it to the North Pole. Instead, a man working in downtown San Diego stumbled upon it as it literally fell out of the sky. Terry Hardin was on his way home Tuesday when he spotted a red balloon with a half-torn letter attached slowly descending towards him. Hardin had no clue where the balloon came from, but after reading the note attached to it, he knew he had to find out. “It was from some young lady, a 5-year-old named Joie,” Hardin said. The note read: “Dear Santa, I would like to have a mermaid doll with a bow for Christmas. Thank you, Love Joie.” Hardin turned to Facebook and with a little help, he was able to track the little girl to Mrs. Garay’s kindergarten class at St. Rose of Lima School in Chula Vista.

Posted by Mandy Nagy on December 22, 2013 6 Comments
Claire Davis, the Arapahoe High School senior who was shot by a classmate on December 13th in Colorado, died Saturday afternoon. From NBC News:
The 17-year-old senior who was in a coma after being shot point-blank at a Colorado high school last week died Saturday with her family at her side, hospital officials said. Claire Esther Davis, a senior at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colo., was critically injured when student gunman Karl Halverson Pierson, 18, entered the school building on Dec. 13 armed with a shotgun and multiple rounds of ammunition. In a statement posted on the Littleton Adventist Hospital's Facebook page, officials said Claire's injuries "were too severe and the most advanced medical treatments could not prevent this tragic loss of life." The teen passed away at 4:29 p.m. local time (6:29 p.m. ET).

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 21, 2013 47 Comments
Yesterday was the worst Twitter day of all time. Or at least the worst that I remember. Some lady no one had ever heard of and who had about 100 followers at the time sent the Tweet above. The tweet went viral.  Some guy at Gawker is claiming credit for finding it, although a lot of people credit the big viral boost to someone at Buzzfeed who has over 100,000 followers: https://twitter.com/BuzzFeedAndrew/status/414103011464454145 https://twitter.com/danielwein/status/414103716892250112 https://twitter.com/BFriedmanDC/status/414420362042941440 Whoever started it, plenty of websites picked up on it and ran with it to feed the mob and not miss out on clicks and eyeballs. By the time I saw it, long after she became a hunted woman, my first impression was similar to that of John Nolte at Breitbart.com: Looks like the type of "white privilege" claptrap we read almost weekly at Salon.com or Slate.com.  Some liberal white person coming to grips with her privilege and wanting the whole world to know about it.

LEGAL INSURRECTION QUICK TAKES

Iowa House Bill Targets Private Universities With DEI Offices

Students and Alumni at Smith College Protest for Divestment From Israel

Flyer Found at Penn State U. Says ‘Dead ICE Agents Can’t Kill’

Franklin & Marshall College Economic Department Features Marxist Curriculum

Students for Justice in Palestine at U. Chicago Cheer for Iranian Missiles Hitting U.S. Navy Base

Dearborn Henry Ford Community College Prof Says Trump Made a Huge 'Mistake' in Iran

SEE MORE

Posted by Mandy Nagy on December 21, 2013 20 Comments
Authorities announced today that four men have been arrested and charged in connection with a carjacking outside an upscale NJ mall last Sunday that left one victim dead. From the Star Ledger / NJ.com:
Nearly a week after 30-year-old Hoboken lawyer Dustin Friedland was gunned down in a deadly carjacking while returning to his vehicle in an upper level parking deck of the Mall at Short Hills, police this morning arrested four men on charges of murder. The four, were identified as Karif Ford, 31, Basim Henry, 32, Kevin Roberts, 35, all of Newark, and Hanif Thompson, 29, of Irvington. All were being held at the Essex County Correctional Facility on $2 million bail each. Thompson was taken into custody at his home in Irvington. Ford and Roberts were arrested in Newark. Henry was arrested, by an FBI task force, at a hotel in Easton, Pa., said Anthony Ambrose, chief of detectives for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office. He said the arrests began around 9 p.m. Friday and concluded at about 3 a.m. today.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 21, 2013 10 Comments

Guilty until proven innocent, if they even let you prove your innocence: The Unfairness of Judicial Proceedings in Academia Where in America do we have quasi-judicial proceedings rivaling those of the English Star Chamber or Spanish Inquisition of the 16th century, in terms of lack of fairness...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 21, 2013 1 Comment

From frequent photographer Ulises: The sticker on top say “You can give peace a chance, we’ll cover you if it doesn’t work out”. For some reason this sticker does not come out really well in pictures, but here it goes. Now, the one on the bottom is...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 20, 2013 7 Comments

Just a word of thanks to Legal Insurrection readers. The pushback against the anti-Israel academic boycott is gaining momentum. An increasing number of universities and University Presidents are stating their positions against the boycott. Not a single university or major academic group has come out for...

Posted by Mandy Nagy on December 20, 2013 7 Comments
The remains of a missing POW returned home this week after more than 60 years, and a widow who never remarried will finally be able to say goodbye to her husband. From the LA Times:
Army Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Gantt told his wife to remarry if he didn’t come back from the war. She told him no. He had a hard enough time getting her to say yes. He was it. For 63 years, the World War II and Korean War veteran was missing in action and presumed dead, but Clara Gantt, 94, held out hope and never remarried. On a cold, dark Friday morning on the Los Angeles International Airport tarmac, the widow stood from her wheelchair and cried as her husband’s flag-draped casket arrived home. “I am very, very proud of him. He was a wonderful husband, an understanding man,” she told TV reporters at the airport. “I always did love my husband, we was two of one kind, we loved each other. And that made our marriage complete.” Joseph Gantt joined the Army in 1942 and served in the South Pacific during WWII. He met his wife on a train from Texas to Los Angeles in 1946 and they married two years later. They had no children.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 20, 2013 14 Comments
I previously sent an email to President of Princeton regarding academic boycott of Israel and specifically inquired as to whether Princeton would drop its Institutional Membership in the American Studies Association so long as ASA imposes an academic boycott on Israeli academic institutions and scholars.  Both Penn State Harrisburg and Brandeis have dropped their Institutional Memberships.  The Association of American Universities has come out with a strongly worded denunciation of the academic boycott oof Israel. I just received the following statement from Princeton's press spokesman on behalf of President Christopher L. Eisgruber:
Thanks for your email to President Eisgruber about the American Studies Association’s boycott of Israel. In correspondence with Princeton alumni who have asked about the boycott, President Eisgruber has said,
I share your dismay at the American Studies Association's misguided boycott. Academic boycotts are almost always bad policy--scholarly engagement helps to sustain and build liberal democratic values. For that reason, among others, I believe that Princeton should continue to work constructively with scholars and institutions throughout the world, whether one admires or dislikes the government under which they operate. And, whatever one thinks of boycotts in general, to single out Israel alone is indefensible.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 20, 2013 2 Comments
Willamette University joins an increasing number of universities rejecting the anti-Israel academic boycott, but in a twist, denies having any knowledge as to why ASA lists it as an Institutional Member. The ASA considers Institutional Memberships to be important indicators of university support which is why it highlights the list:
Institutional members help to insure the continuity, development, and enhanced usefulness of a dynamic, professional, scholarly organization dedicated to broadening and intensifying the study of American life and civilization. They help to promote interdisciplinary activity and programs, working toward the lowering of rigid barriers of approach and technique, and the cooperation of scholars in various disciplines in a vital, international field of study. Institutional members also help to stimulate intellectual and professional activity among their own faculty. We depend on institutional dues to carry on many of our current activities and to develop new programs and services.
Willamette University is listed as one of the Insitutional Members of ASA in the ASA Quartely and Annual Meeting materials. Stephen Thorsett, President of Willamette University, communicating with a Legal Insurrection reader, rejected the boycott and indicated that Willamette was unaware of its Institutional Membership.  Here is the exchange, in part (emphasis added):

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 20, 2013 19 Comments

That's the take away from today's press conference, which still is in progress as of this writing. So Democrats should run on it in 2014. https://twitter.com/ByronYork/status/414123765698945024 https://twitter.com/AceofSpadesHQ/status/414127598596149248 https://twitter.com/charliespiering/status/414127354651213824 https://twitter.com/RyanLizza/status/414127417658470401...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 20, 2013 9 Comments
Robert A. Brown, President of Boston University, will be issing a formal statement rejecting the Amercian Studies Association's anti-Israeli academic boycott.  The statement is not yet posted on BU's website, but was obtained by Legal Insurrection and confirmed with the President's office. President Brown, however, is deferring the decision on withdrawal of Institutional Membership to the American and New England Studies Department on grounds of the academic freedom of that department. Here is an email from President Brown to a Legal Insurrection reader announcing the statement and the membership deferral.  We confirmed with the President's office the authenticity of the email:
Thank you for your email expressing your concern about the recent vote of the American Studies Association (ASA) to boycott Israeli universities. Please see below my formal statement about this unfortunate action by the ASA.
I am disappointed and concerned that the American Studies Association, invoking the principle of academic freedom, would vote to boycott Israeli academic institutions. Research, teaching, and scholarship flourish through robust exchange of ideas, across borders and among institutions in different parts of the world. Universities and their faculties can often transcend even profound political differences. It is ill-advised to make academic institutions the instrument with which to promote a political agenda by attempting to isolate students and scholars. Boston University cannot support this boycott.
I hope that there will be a serious discussion within our American and New England Studies Program which has an institutional membership in the ASA which, obviously, is funded by the University. This institutional membership does not come with a vote that is exercised by either the program or the University. The poll taken by the ASA represents the votes of individual members of the organization. We are not prepared to suggest (implicitly or explicitly) to faculty members who hold individual memberships (some of which are funded out of professional funds allocated to individual faculty members) how they should vote. That would lead us onto a slippery slope. I do hope the faculty in the American and New England Studies Program will consider whether or not continuing membership in the ASA will create the opportunity for a temperate and thoughtful reconsideration of the wisdom of the boycott.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 20, 2013 17 Comments
We reported on some of the gruesome details and testimony at the trial of the killers of British soldier Lee Rigby on a street in London by machete and knife wielding Islamic radicals, Killer of British soldier Lee Rigby: “I am a soldier and this is war”. The evidence concluded last week, and this week the jury returned guilty verdicts. Via Fox News, 2 Muslim radicals -- 'soldiers of Allah' -- convicted in brutal murder of British soldier:
A jury on Thursday convicted two men who called themselves "soldiers of Allah" of murdering a British soldier who was run down with a car, stabbed to death and nearly decapitated in a brutal attack on a London street. The jury of eight women and four men deliberated for just 90 minutes before finding Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale guilty of murdering Fusilier Lee Rigby. They were acquitted of attempting to murder a police officer. Both men had pleaded not guilty to murder, though neither denied taking part in the May 22 attack. Neither defendant reacted as the jury foreman announced the verdicts. Adebolajo smiled and kissed a copy of the Quran as he was led down to the cells.
Lee Rigby Here is a video timeline of what happened that murderous day:
MORE POSTS
Accessibility by WAH