UC Berkeley suspensions draw ACLU rebuke

[alp227]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

UC Berkeley abused its authority by severely punishing two student protesters with little evidence of wrongdoing - and should change its policies before violating the rights of dozens of others facing discipline, the American Civil Liberties Union told Chancellor Robert Birgeneau this week.

The university's attorney did not dispute most of the ACLU's objections.

"We take their letter seriously," said Mike Smith, campus counsel. "The recommendations they have about the Student Code of Conduct, I agree with some of them."

The university has been cracking down recently on students who participated in any of several campus protests against budget cuts in November and December.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/08/BAV41CQP74.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea

[sharp_stick]

1. Berkely lost all

credibility the second that gave that POS traitor John Yoo a fucking tenure track position.

[Autonomy]

2. I don't know for sure

but I am pretty sure the law school is independent from the UC in general and Cal specifically in regard to offering tenure, maybe even all hiring. The other 99% of of UC-Berkeley should not be tarred by Yoo, who is universally loathed in every other academic department.

Source: Cal grad with no other inside info, just edumacated guesses

[sharp_stick]

3. I'll have to look into that

I really hope you're right, I'd love to be proven wrong on this. I'm still surprised Yoo can walk around there and not get assaulted.

[Autonomy]

4. Last I heard he wasn't even in the Bay Area

was suspended by Berkeley, and was somewhere in the LA area. This was a while back, though. I don't think he can show his face in Berkeley, or anywhere within 15 miles of the bay.

[jtrockville]

5. This (link) is from January. Do you know of something more recent?

He has to hold his UC Berkeley classes at a secret location:

http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/john_yoo_defends_secret_class_says_protesters_can_pay_if_they_want_to_atten

[Autonomy]

7. That appears more recent

I guess he came back (sort of) this semester. I've never heard of a secret class before, but I guess it shouldn't be surprising for Yoo.

Still, I don't think UC has a lot of say in what the law school does. I could be wrong, though.

Edit to add: I just remembered attending a 'secret class' while at Berkeley. It was a lecture by Noam Chomsky. I wasn't it in the class, but I 'knew' someone. :)

[Downtown Hound]

6. LOL. Berkeley

Berkeley hasn't been the center of free speech for some time. It's a beautiful community and still a great school, but it's tradition of radicalism is long gone. It's still liberal, but it ain't radical. Go to Humboldt if you want to find radicals.