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Turkish Group Appeals Court Ruling over `Unreliable Websites'
10:44 - 27.08.11
The Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) has appealed a Federal Court's
March 30th decision to dismiss the lawsuit brought forth by the TCA
against the University of Minnesota, its President, and another
professor, for having included the TCA's website on a list of
`unreliable websites' due to the latter's denial of the Armenian
Genocide, the Armenian Weekly reported.
The TCA is appealing the decision with support from the Rutherford
Institute as a `friend of the court,' claiming that the student's
rights to academic freedom, protected by the First Amendment, were
violated.
Last Fall, the TCA, together with first-year university student Sinan
Cingilli, originally from Turkey, sued the University of Minnesota,
its then-president Robert Bruininks, and Prof. Bruno Chaouat, director
of the University's Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies (CHGS),
for posting a list of `unreliable websites' on the CHGS website. The
list of websites deemed unreliable to the study of genocide - because
they promoted genocide denial - included that of the TCA. The complaint
was dismissed (`with prejudice') on the grounds of academic freedom.
The TCA is appealing the decision with support from the Rutherford
Institute as a `friend of the court,' claiming that the student's
rights to academic freedom, protected by the First Amendment, were
violated.
The University filed a reply on Aug. 15. In it, it argued that in
order to deliberate on the case, the Court would have to decide which
viewpoint on the Armenian Genocide was correct. `Such issues of
scholarly opinion and debate are not appropriately resolved through
the courts,' added the University.
The University also argued that Prof. Chaouat and the CHGS were
protected by the principle of academic freedom, and therefore could
deem certain sources of information unreliable.
`Universities and their faculty members have the right to express
their views on academic matters. They have the right to provide
recommendations and advice to students and others regarding the
reliability of sources of information, including websites, and whether
the sources should be used for scholarly research and writing,' it
stated.
The University added that the TCA had not established a `cognizable
injury,' and that neither the TCA nor Cingilli were prohibited from
expressing their viewpoints, and no one was restricted from accessing
the TCA's website.
`Cingilli has no right to avoid receiving recommendations and advice
from University professors, especially when he affirmatively seeks
them out,' stated the University in its reply.
The University also cited the Massachusetts case of Griswold v.
Driscoll, where the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA),
along with two state teachers and a student, had sued the
Massachusetts Department of Education over Armenian Genocide education
in Massachusetts schools. They had claimed that `contra Genocide'
viewpoints had to be included in school curricula as a First Amendment
right. Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter, writing for the
circuit court, had denied that appeal.
Tert.am
10:44 - 27.08.11
The Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) has appealed a Federal Court's
March 30th decision to dismiss the lawsuit brought forth by the TCA
against the University of Minnesota, its President, and another
professor, for having included the TCA's website on a list of
`unreliable websites' due to the latter's denial of the Armenian
Genocide, the Armenian Weekly reported.
The TCA is appealing the decision with support from the Rutherford
Institute as a `friend of the court,' claiming that the student's
rights to academic freedom, protected by the First Amendment, were
violated.
Last Fall, the TCA, together with first-year university student Sinan
Cingilli, originally from Turkey, sued the University of Minnesota,
its then-president Robert Bruininks, and Prof. Bruno Chaouat, director
of the University's Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies (CHGS),
for posting a list of `unreliable websites' on the CHGS website. The
list of websites deemed unreliable to the study of genocide - because
they promoted genocide denial - included that of the TCA. The complaint
was dismissed (`with prejudice') on the grounds of academic freedom.
The TCA is appealing the decision with support from the Rutherford
Institute as a `friend of the court,' claiming that the student's
rights to academic freedom, protected by the First Amendment, were
violated.
The University filed a reply on Aug. 15. In it, it argued that in
order to deliberate on the case, the Court would have to decide which
viewpoint on the Armenian Genocide was correct. `Such issues of
scholarly opinion and debate are not appropriately resolved through
the courts,' added the University.
The University also argued that Prof. Chaouat and the CHGS were
protected by the principle of academic freedom, and therefore could
deem certain sources of information unreliable.
`Universities and their faculty members have the right to express
their views on academic matters. They have the right to provide
recommendations and advice to students and others regarding the
reliability of sources of information, including websites, and whether
the sources should be used for scholarly research and writing,' it
stated.
The University added that the TCA had not established a `cognizable
injury,' and that neither the TCA nor Cingilli were prohibited from
expressing their viewpoints, and no one was restricted from accessing
the TCA's website.
`Cingilli has no right to avoid receiving recommendations and advice
from University professors, especially when he affirmatively seeks
them out,' stated the University in its reply.
The University also cited the Massachusetts case of Griswold v.
Driscoll, where the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA),
along with two state teachers and a student, had sued the
Massachusetts Department of Education over Armenian Genocide education
in Massachusetts schools. They had claimed that `contra Genocide'
viewpoints had to be included in school curricula as a First Amendment
right. Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter, writing for the
circuit court, had denied that appeal.
Tert.am