Posted on 12/29/2015 8:22:50 AM PST by massmike
A University of New Mexico student has lost her lawsuit in which she claimed her professor violated her free speech rights by kicking her out of class for criticizing lesbianism in an essay.
Monica Pompeo and her attorney, Bob Gorence, have filed an appeal to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.
The dismissal also says that Pompeo’s professor, Caroline Hinkley, was “personally offended†by Pompeo’s views.
Pompeo originally claimed she had been ostracized, even kicked out of class, after she expressed anti-gay views in an essay about a lesbian film as part of an upper-level film critique class. She claimed the professor refused to grade her paper.
And Hinkley asked Pompeo to back up her statements about homosexuality, writing on the margin on Pompeo’s paper: “Why is attraction to the same sex perverse? This is a strong statement that needs critical backup. Otherwise it’s just inflammatory.â€
At one point, Hinkley told Pompeo that some of her language in the paper could be considered hate speech, according to court documents. And Pompeo told Hinkley that some of the films in the class were “unendurable,†to which Hinkley replied there would likely be more such films. Pompeo reported this made her feel she was being pressured out of the class.
Armijo ultimately ruled that the professors’ conduct and attempts to change how Pompeo used her language was within the scope of teaching and was not a violation of her constitutionally protected right to free speech but noted the law was vague on the issue.
The federal appeal has been filed and is currently in the mediation stage, according to court records. The next hearing in the case is set for January.
(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...
. . and to “git ‘er done” IF she “goes along to get along”,
don’t you mean?
If by that you mean had she done the assignment as it was defined then yes. But she didn't. And despite the coaching of her instructors she persisted in not doing it. I can't remember any professors being that lenient with me when I was in college or grad school. If I had questions, they'd answer them. But if I went off on my own and turned in a paper that didn't follow the assignment then they'd flunk me without comment or counsel.
I think the courts have ruled repeatedly that free speech rights don’t apply in schools. This is a matter that should have stayed within the school.
While “free speech” SHOULD apply in college classrooms, it doesn’t. The very real and practical rule is “Give them what they want.” I got 2 As in philosophy (attending the 1st class, the last class & the final) following that rule. The prof was a commie marxist who had as texts the most howlingly ridiculous marxist claptrap written.
I regurgitated the spew faithfully on papers and tests and got As. The objective wasn’t to learn or be logical, it was to glowingly present marxist spew.
Where’d I learn this rule ? The United States Army.
While I sympathize and agree her viewpoint, the court was right to throw the suit out. While I have always admired and sometimes emulated Frank Zappa’s testimony before the Senate on censorship of rock music (”I think you’re all f....d !”) ya gotta pick your fights.
She should have ridiculed her prof in the right venue.
I'm not sure she didn't do the assignment as defined. From the whole article:
Dever said "childless" had a less derogatory tone, to which Pompeo replied, "And I will probably use the word 'BARREN' it is my choice; I don’t like to be told what words I may and may not use, ever."
The argument appears to be over the tone of the work, which may be part of the overall grade but cannot be final say on what is, essentially, an opinion piece. (I know the prof said it wasn't, but I see no way to separate opinion from critique, especially in an esoteric area like film critiques).
Did I miss something specific on why you believe the student failed to perform the assignment as actually defined (as opposed to the desired result on part of the professor)?
Also from the article: "The professors attempted to explain to Pompeo that her assertions in her "critical and analytic paper" needed to be substantiated in accordance with academic standards. Otherwise, they remained opinions, and the assignment was not an opinion paper."
She said that she would continue to use the word "barren". Barren, when used for a womb, means incapable of bearing children. As the professors pointed out, that is not accurate without substantiation. Saying that homosexuality is "perverse" is her opinion. She's welcome to it and she no doubt believes it is accurate. But again it's an opinion in a paper that was supposed to be analytic.
Monica Pompeo is welcome to her opinions, and I don't think anyone was saying otherwise. But the assignment wasn't to give her opinions but to perform critical analysis backed up with supporting evidence. And she didn't.
All in all I think Pompeo was in the wrong class to begin with. And I think this is more a GPA issue than a free speech one.
Sounds like a job for FIRE....
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