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Law professor Claims Improper Punishment
Science Daily ^ | 8-1-2007

Posted on 08/01/2007 2:15:42 PM PDT by blam

Law professor claims improper punishment

CHICAGO, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- A law school professor in Chicago is suing for $1 million over what he calls an improper punishment over comments he made comparing black and Jewish students.

John Gorby, who is neither Jewish nor African-American, opined to a Jewish student after a class at John Marshall Law School that religious training may help explain why Jews pass the bar exam at higher rates than blacks, who tend to come from religions that "emphasize an emotional and spiritual religious experience rather than discussion and debate about the meaning of scriptural language," the Chicago Sun-Times reported Wednesday.

Gorby successfully appealed to the school's appellate board to have an official reprimand stricken from his record but he failed to regain a five percent raise that was canceled by the dean. He also complains that the incident cost him $25,000 in attorney's fees.

Gorby, who argues that his statements were an exercise in academic freedom and that professors should be allowed to spark provocative discussions about raising the bar graduation rates, is seeking $1 million in the suit.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: academia; improper; law; professor; punishment
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1 posted on 08/01/2007 2:15:44 PM PDT by blam
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To: blam
Gee, what does bloviating on the reason for different pass rates between blacks and Jews have to do with teaching the law? Shouldn't academic freedom apply only to the matters being taught by the teacher? If I were a history teacher would I have the academic freedom to teach whatever I want to about Einstein's Theory of Relativity?

If, in fact, there is a difference in pass rates between Blacks and Jews wouldn't it make sense that it could have much more to do with affirmative action programs than different religious practices?

2 posted on 08/01/2007 2:24:15 PM PDT by KevinB
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To: KevinB

He wasn’t teaching. It was said to a student after class!

Heck, it’s just a straight freedom of speach thing. He did nothing wrong.


3 posted on 08/01/2007 2:27:23 PM PDT by Hazcat (We won an immigration BATTLE, the WAR is not over. Be ever vigilant.)
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To: blam
Kind of scary that such an innocuous speculation would result in an expensive slap down. He should have been circumspect and said merely, “Allah is great and will utterly destroy all the Jews and Crusaders>”
4 posted on 08/01/2007 2:27:24 PM PDT by JimSEA
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Comment #5 Removed by Moderator

To: Hazcat
He wasn’t teaching. It was said to a student after class!

I think anytime a teacher is talking to one of his students, it's teaching. Anyway, I wasn't commenting on the merits of this case, but was instead commenting on the belief by some teachers that they can say virtually anything in the name of academic freedom.

6 posted on 08/01/2007 2:37:16 PM PDT by KevinB
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To: All

Doesn’t that law school allow for students to graduate in TWO years vs the usual THREE years?


7 posted on 08/01/2007 2:39:01 PM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: blam

John Gorby should have stuck with teaching Law and left eugenics theories to Planned Parenthood.


8 posted on 08/01/2007 2:39:20 PM PDT by Grizzled Bear ("Does not play well with others.")
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To: blam

Studying the “Law” trains one to study the “law.”

Sounds correct to me; shame common sense is illegal nowadays.


9 posted on 08/01/2007 2:40:53 PM PDT by MeanWestTexan (Kol Hakavod Fred Thompson)
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To: Grizzled Bear

Eugenics?

Race and genetics has nothing to do with it; he was discussing culture.

A black kid adopted into a Jewish family at birth would have the same benefit (of essentially legal training from birth), I would suspect.


10 posted on 08/01/2007 2:43:08 PM PDT by MeanWestTexan (Kol Hakavod Fred Thompson)
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To: blam
I guess I'd have been put in jail because my speculation would have dealt with the worldwide average IQ of the two groups. Jews have the highest IQ results of all groups, Blacks have the lowest IQ results of all groups.

Could the answer be that simple?

I'm straight off the Bill O'Reilly threads from last night, so in the interest of not giving BOR any more ammunition with which to assert that FR is a bigoted hate site, I wouldn't have espoused that theory without posting reliable statistics supporting it.

11 posted on 08/01/2007 2:43:25 PM PDT by KevinB
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To: KevinB

actually Bar exams have been pretty strict about all pass on equal footing. The only concession has been “grants” to have bar prep courses paid for the students.

The sentiment is that all students are tested on the identical three years worth of law school materials. Since law school courses are fairly standardized there is no variace for bias. (the bill of rights is the bill of rights)

The reason for low bar pass rates is the fact admissions are jury rigged for affirmative action.


12 posted on 08/01/2007 2:44:06 PM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: blam

And why is this worse than what Ward Churchill said . . . ?


13 posted on 08/01/2007 2:45:21 PM PDT by A_Former_Democrat
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To: MeanWestTexan

exactly,

ANY CHILD OF ANY ETHNIC OR CULTURAL GROUP WHO IS TRAINED AND TAUTH TO HAVE GOOD STUDY HABITS WILL -—SURPRISE-— have good study habits.

Why do home school children outperform public school children? training.


14 posted on 08/01/2007 2:46:33 PM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: blam

Any comment that suggests that there are differences between ethnic groups is hazardous these days, unless of course, the comment clearly and unambiguously disparages the white race. The truth is not only no longer a defense; it’s damn risky.


15 posted on 08/01/2007 2:50:28 PM PDT by Spok
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To: longtermmemmory
The reason for low bar pass rates is the fact admissions are jury rigged for affirmative action.

Yes, that's the point I was making in post 2. I've taken (and passed) two bar exams and agree totally that everyone takes the same exam and is graded equally.

16 posted on 08/01/2007 2:50:29 PM PDT by KevinB
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To: blam
Could the answer be that simple?

The answer is even simpler: affirmative action results in more low-qualified blacks entering law school (and eventually trying to pass the bar) than whites, I would guess that if you controlled for IQ, students of identical IQ would have similar pass rates

17 posted on 08/01/2007 2:52:20 PM PDT by SauronOfMordor (Open Season rocks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymLJz3N8ayI)
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To: SauronOfMordor
The answer is even simpler: affirmative action results in more low-qualified blacks entering law school (and eventually trying to pass the bar) than whites, I would guess that if you controlled for IQ, students of identical IQ would have similar pass rates

I went to a law school that was required to admit blacks at the rate of 20%. The average LSAT score to be admitted to the school at the time was about 650. I remember overhearing one of the black students telling a friend that he got 450 on the LSAT. I don't know whether he passed the bar, but I could hazard a guess.

18 posted on 08/01/2007 3:02:14 PM PDT by KevinB
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To: Grizzled Bear

Huh? This has nothing to do with eugenics. His speculation was about the effects of different life experiences, not different genetics. Visit the services of any random synagogue and then the services of any random black Protestant church, and you’ll immediately see what he’s getting at. This doesn’t mean black religions are inferior, just that they would generally tend to influence thinking processes in a different way.


19 posted on 08/01/2007 3:02:20 PM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
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To: JimSEA
Kind of scary that such an innocuous speculation would result in an expensive slap down. He should have been circumspect and said merely, “Allah is great and will utterly destroy all the Jews and Crusaders”

LOL.

He probably would have been better off if he had said that instead.
20 posted on 08/01/2007 3:03:02 PM PDT by khnyny (The best minds are not in government. If they were, business would hire them away. Ronald Reagan)
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