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APPEALS COURT RULES FOR U OF M IN CASE OVER 'UNRELIABLE WEBSITES'
http://www.startribune.com/local/blogs/150171485.html
Posted by: Jenna Ross Updated: May 4, 2012 - 11:06 AM
The Eighth U.S. Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday in favor of the
University of Minnesota in a case over a university center posting
a list of "unreliable websites."
The university is hailing the legal victory as a win for academic
freedom.
The Turkish Coalition of America had sued the university in 2010,
claiming that the U's Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies
violated the group's First Amendment rights by "blacklisting" its
website because of its pro-Turkish viewpoint on the killings of
Armenians in the Ottoman Empire a century ago.
This week, the appeals court agreed with the district court in
dismissing the Turkish group's claims.
The appeals court rejected the Turkish Coalition of America's
comparison to other cases in which school boards removed books from
libraries. "Here, in contrast, 'the spectrum of available knowledge'
for students at the university was unaffected," the ruling said.
"There is no allegation that the defendants impaired students' access
to the TCA website on a university-provided internet system."
It also found that the group's defamation claims failed.
In a statement, the U's general counsel Mark Rotenberg said the
decision "confirms the right of universities and their faculty to
offer scholarly criticism and critique on websites without fear of
legal exposure."
Read the full decision here:
http://www.startribune.com/local/blogs/150171485.html
Posted by: Jenna Ross Updated: May 4, 2012 - 11:06 AM
The Eighth U.S. Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday in favor of the
University of Minnesota in a case over a university center posting
a list of "unreliable websites."
The university is hailing the legal victory as a win for academic
freedom.
The Turkish Coalition of America had sued the university in 2010,
claiming that the U's Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies
violated the group's First Amendment rights by "blacklisting" its
website because of its pro-Turkish viewpoint on the killings of
Armenians in the Ottoman Empire a century ago.
This week, the appeals court agreed with the district court in
dismissing the Turkish group's claims.
The appeals court rejected the Turkish Coalition of America's
comparison to other cases in which school boards removed books from
libraries. "Here, in contrast, 'the spectrum of available knowledge'
for students at the university was unaffected," the ruling said.
"There is no allegation that the defendants impaired students' access
to the TCA website on a university-provided internet system."
It also found that the group's defamation claims failed.
In a statement, the U's general counsel Mark Rotenberg said the
decision "confirms the right of universities and their faculty to
offer scholarly criticism and critique on websites without fear of
legal exposure."
Read the full decision here: