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Another case of a 'speech code' on campus defending the right not to be offended. Beautiful. The best part? I'm betting that the professor simply cannot grok the irony in his actions.
LOS ANGELES - A college student has filed a lawsuit saying a public speaking professor berated him in class for making a speech opposing same-sex marriage.
Yeah, how dare that student express an opinion on a topic that VOTERS in the state recently expressed opinions on with their votes. Straying from the path of unicorns who poop rainbows out their rears when speaking in the once-hallowed halls of acedemia is a poor choice. Danger Will Robinson! Danger! Danger!
In the federal court suit filed last week, student Jonathan Lopez said that midway through his speech, when he quoted a dictionary definition of marriage and recited a pair of Bible verses, professor John Matteson cut him off and would not allow him to finish. He said Matteson also called him a "fascist bastard."
I can almost see this professor now...wild eyes, spittle flying from frenzied lips screaming "You're done! Done! No more! I don't care that you are citing the source material from one of the most influential tomes in Western Civilization! I don't care that you are citing the dictionary!!! I don't like what you are saying and that makes it untrue, inappropriate, and hate speech!!"
A student evaluation form included with the lawsuit lacks a score for Lopez's speech, and reads "ask God what your grade is."
Not acceptable. It won't be enough to cost this bully his job. He needs to be given a homework assignment in which he must research the history of American Higher Education and the purposes and results of its implementation. He sullies the heritage of the American higher educational system with his actions and hostility to religion.
In a letter, Dean Allison Jones wrote that she had met with Lopez, considered his complaint "extremely serious in nature," and had begun a disciplinary investigation. Jones said in the letter she could not elaborate because of concerns for Matteson's privacy.
The careful answer, but I suspect that nothing will come of it. Call it a hunch.
But Jones also wrote that two students were "deeply offended" by the speech, and quoted one as saying "this student should have to pay some price for preaching hate in the classroom."
And this is why. Truly, the Dean misunderstands. As a community college, I'll wager that the school accepts taxpayer dollars, and I'll also bet that the school probably is chartered through the state government. That would make it a government entity. That means that ANY restriction on the speech of a citizen SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED, no matter who gets offended. You don't like it if a student points out that a "marriage" between Neal and Bob doesn't meet the definition of marriage? Tough. You don't like it that the Bible has specific proscriptions against homosexuality? Too bad. Despite the popular opinion, this nation was founded on primarily Christian principals. Yeah, I said that out loud, and I have been doing the research to back it up.
Matteson did not immediately respond to calls and e-mails seeking comment early Monday. Offices of the Los Angeles Community College District were closed for the Presidents Day holiday.
No Surprise there.
Lopez made the speech at Los Angeles City College in November, days after the passage of Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California.
Topical and well-sourced? He'll never get anywhere in academia that way. What was he thinking?
"Basically, colleges and universities should give Christian students the same rights to free expression as other students," David J. Hacker, an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal organization that is representing Lopez, told the Los Angeles Times.
And considering that colleges and universities were once founded by Christians to provide an educated and knowledgable clergy to preserve and foster a free and just society, that really isn't too much to expect.
Lopez and his attorneys are seeking financial damages and want the court to strike down a code at Los Angeles City College forbidding students from making statements deemed offensive.
And I hope they take it as far as they have to get that result.
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Apparently I was wrong. The Dean does get it, and has sided against the First Amendment. Maybe she is counting on the courts to get it wrong.
From Mike S. Adams at Townhall.com
Following the inaction of Dean Jones, Mr. Lopez sent, via counsel, a second letter demanding action in his case. Dean Jones responded by saying that the situation had been appropriately addressed. She then brazenly stated that any service of process or tort claims could be served on the District’s General Counsel.
Methinks some personal liability under a section 1983 civil rights suit might get this worm's attention.
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