KC Johnson Profile picture
Brooklyn College/@GC_CUNY history professor. Former Fulbright professor at @telavivuni Former track announcer at Scarborough Downs & the VT State Fair.
Mar 26 4 tweets 2 min read
Quite an opening anecdote in this richly reported @TheAtlantic piece on Stanford after Oct. 7. Image Interesting analysis here--which I'm not sure fully explains *why* the average student has changed (or why the average student wasn't horrified by the events of Oct. 7). Image
Mar 7 6 tweets 2 min read
The key argument in antisemitism lawsuit filed today against @MIT: "MIT tolerated discriminatory, harassing speech that it had expressly not tolerated in other comparable situations." Image Lawsuit alleges selective enforcement claim--rules enforced against Jewish and pro-Israel students but not against non-Jewish and anti-Israel students.
Allegation re harassment of Jewish profs is troubling. Image
Feb 22 4 tweets 2 min read
A short thread, with audio, on 1964, the anomaly in @JMilesColeman's excellent piece on Senate/presidential ticket-splitting, which usually has benefited Dems.
In 1964, the GOP won six Senate races (CA, DE, HI, NE, PA, VT) in states carried by LBJ.
For LBJ the most consequential was Delaware: “I want to beat this son-of-a-bitch [John] Williams.”
LBJ was even willing to do a deal with RFK (clip below) where LBJ agreed to extra time campaigning for RFK in NYC if RFK mobilized civil rights leaders against Wiliams.
Jan 19 6 tweets 2 min read
Just in: IL district court grants preliminary injunction in @UofIllinois basketball player TJ Shannon case. Orders suspension lifted. Image Very broad ruling on due process--in a tough circuit.
"Plaintiff has alleged that the University’s arbitrary decision to suspend him for sexual misconduct has deprived him of a protected liberty interest: his freedom to pursue a career of his choice in basketball."
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Nov 28, 2023 5 tweets 2 min read
@brandeiscenter lawsuit against Cal-Berkeley focuses heavily on student-group rule that excludes Zionists from membership, speaking, & in one case publishing in a law journal.
Hard to argue rule is viewpoint-based when Berkeley leaders have conceded it's antisemitic. Image As w/recent NYU lawsuit, Berkeley complaint provides window on the post-10/7 campus atmosphere for Jewish student: "lecturer who told students that class was over early before proceeding to embark on an anti-Israel rant for 18 minutes." Image
Jun 23, 2023 15 tweets 5 min read
CT Supreme Court: "Statements made in sexual misconduct disciplinary proceedings that are offered and accepted without adequate procedural safeguards carry too great a risk of unfair or unreliable outcomes."
Yale accuser not entitled to absolute quasi-judicial immunity. CT Supreme Court: Students accused of sexual assault "often face life altering and stigmatizing consequences...we must acknowledge that the accused’s right to fundamental fairness is no less important than the right of the accuser or the larger community to achieve justice."
May 31, 2023 9 tweets 4 min read
"The University has somehow managed to offend virtually every cardinal principle of First Amendment law."
Strong dissent from Judge Wilkinson from CA4 ruling allowing Va Tech's bias reporting team to continue to operate.
https://t.co/19bUglJPKSca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/21206…
Image Wilkinson dissent: Bias reporting team policies read "like a mission statement of a committee dedicated to rooting out dissent. A student whose views fail to align with campus orthodoxy would think twice before speaking under such a menacing regime." Image
Dec 13, 2022 5 tweets 2 min read
Just in: Court denies summary judgment, on both Title IX & breach of contract counts, in acc'd student lawsuit against @TCU. Court previously had granted TRO in this case. Image Decision becomes first to assign the new CA5 TIX Purdue pleading standard (adopted in the Van Overdam decision). Cites three key areas--illogical nature of decision; procedural irregularities; gendered statements by TCU officials. Image
Dec 13, 2022 8 tweets 4 min read
Full text of @SenBobCasey TIX bill (Hirono, Booker, Whitehouse, Baldwin co-sppnsors) just posted.
This latest expression of Dem hostility to fair treatment for acc'd students accuses current TIX regs, w/their due process protections, of "sweeping sexual violence under the rug." Image Under a heading of “support for students,” measure outlines a wide variety of rights & protections for complainants (including restricting the terms through which schools can discipline false reports)—but offers no rights or protections for acc’d students. Image
Dec 12, 2022 4 tweets 2 min read
Detailed piece from @SherwoodStrauss on the SDSU/Araiza case, noting that--at the very least--the DA's rationale for not pursuing criminal charges calls into question many of the vociferous media reactions to the initial allegations.
houseofstrauss.substack.com/p/the-punter-a… This passage, moreover, is particularly interesting: that the Times review of the DA's decision not to file charges didn't mention what seemingly was the strongest piece of exculpatory evidence (a video of the incident taken by another acc'd student) cited by the DA. Image
Oct 3, 2022 6 tweets 3 min read
CT Supreme Court oral argument today: certified questions from CA2 on whether accuser in @Yale TIX case has quasi-judicial immunity from defamation suit.
Justices (all D-appointed) seemingly troubled by Yale procedures; several justices wondered why Yale hadn't filed a brief. Core issue wound up centering on whether lack of fairness in Yale's TIX procedures made it impossible to describe as quasi-judicial.
Justice Keller noted procedures' frustration of acc'd student ability to call witnesses & thus test credibility.
kcjohnson.files.wordpress.com/2022/10/keller…
Aug 11, 2022 6 tweets 3 min read
Just in: court denies summary judgment to @LifeAtPurdue on Title IX count, in long-running acc'd student lawsuit that generated pathbreaking Barrett opinion at earlier stage of the process. Image Court grants Purdue SJ on due process count--on technical grounds. Suggests student voluntarily informed NROTC of investigation, and that if he hadn't done so, perhaps NROTC wouldn't have found out & thus student had no property right under CA7 precedent. Misses forest for trees. Image
Jul 20, 2022 8 tweets 4 min read
Just in: In sweeping opinion, court denies summary judgment to @dordtuniversity on Title IX, common-law due process, & breach of contract counts in acc'd student lawsuit. One of the two or three broadest TIX opinions to emerge in this area in last decade of cases. Image This was a wild case factually--a student witness blackmailing another witness (& this info not shared by Dordt inv'r), TIX coordinator who printed out expulsion letters before the hearing panel even met, Dordt officials destroying notes & not taking notes of interviews. ImageImageImageImage
Jul 6, 2022 6 tweets 3 min read
Court grants preliminary injunction to acc'd students at Univ. of Idaho Law--in (v. rare) TIX case that involved pure speech:
"While universities have a duty to protect students who raise concerns about harassment, they also owe a duty to those accused of the conduct." This case involved self-described queer Idaho Law student, who said that students who ran Christian Legal Society branch made her feel unsafe--by expressing their views about marriage in a public event & (for one student) by inviting her to talk about issue more if she wanted.
Jun 23, 2022 8 tweets 3 min read
As expected, the proposed new TIX regs target rights of acc'd students.
Colleges no longer will be mandated to grant both parties the right to cross-examination--schools can once again the single-investigator model where the TIX coordinator serves as investigator, judge, & jury. OCR justifies return of the single-investigator model--which denies not merely a x-exam but a hearing where acc'd student can see other witness testimony--on grounds that it will make accusers more likely to file complaints.
The thrust here: wrongly acc'd students are out of luck
Jun 14, 2022 12 tweets 5 min read
Just in: It took more than 16 months following the oral argument, but CA1 has (mostly) reversed the district court on the key count (breach of contract) in @Harvard acc'd student appeal. The opinion is *very* fact-specific. Court begins by denying Harvard MTD re the decision to w/hold acc'd student's degree. Student had (persuasively, it turned out) pointed out that Harvard's language suggested degree could be w/held only if TIX charges filed against him.
Jun 1, 2021 9 tweets 4 min read
Just in: CA8 reverses district court decision, allows TIX claim filed by former @UMNews football players to proceed. Court applies the "simpler, more straightforward pleading standard for Title IX claims arising from university disciplinary proceedings" CA8 adopted in UArkansas. Opinion has very strong language on pressure (from the federal government through the Dear Colleague letter, from campus sources) to crack down on acc'd students as one element of a plausible TIX claim.
Nov 12, 2020 4 tweets 2 min read
Great survey & analysis, with lots of new reporting (GOP poll had Collins down 9 just after RBG death), from @jsscppr & @mikeshepherdME on the multi-faceted reasons why Collins was re-elected.
bangordailynews.com/2020/11/12/pol… Two items from piece particularly stood out to me: Google searches for Bill Green provided some data on impact of Green ads--which struck me as by far the most effective ads of the campaign, on either side. Image
Oct 16, 2020 11 tweets 4 min read
Just in: In first-of-kind ruling, court issues preliminary injunction against @rpi for insisting on adjudicating a TIX case that originated pre-8/14 w/o following the new, more due process-friendly TIX procedures. Court v. dubious about RPI's rationale for doing so. Court--citing to CA2 precedent in Columbia & Menaker--notes oddity of university keeping two sets of procedures: " disregard for the inevitable administrative headaches of a multi-procedure approach certainly qualifies as evidence of an irregular adjudicative process."
Sep 18, 2020 5 tweets 3 min read
Just in: Court denies @AmericanU MTD in acc'd student lawsuit, on both TIX & breach of contract grounds. W/no appellate decisions on issue from CADC, court also joins CA3, CA8, and CA9 in adopting the plaintiff-friendly CA7 Purdue TIX standard. Image This was a v. strong TIX opinion, albeit one based on a v. strong complaint. Court comments on single inv'r seemingly inexplicable decision to ding credibility of acc'd student on minor issues while ignoring significant credibility concerns in accuser's story. Image
Sep 10, 2020 9 tweets 4 min read
.@RepBonamici opens House hearing by denouncing TIX regs as "forcing survivors to endure live x-examination." Does she oppose the use of x-exam in civil or criminal contexts? Does she disagree w/the SupCt on its value?
.@nwlc's Goss Graves testifies that "the survivors we work with are deeply invested in due process" (except when it involves x-examination, access to evidence, notice, or bias-free training, apparently).