Legal Commentary

Now Those Are Real Credibility Builders

By Eugene Volokh

I just got an e-flyer for Islamophobia: The Ideological Campaign Against Muslims, by Stephen Sheehi ? ?Preface by Mumia Abu Jamal, Foreword by Ward Churchill.? Of course, I?m sure it does build credibility in some circles. One special surprise: Stephen Sheehi is ?Associate Professor of Arabic and Arab Culture and Director of the Arabic Program at the University of South Carolina?; I would have hoped that his academic position would have made him reluctant to be associated with Churchill, given Churchill?s having been found guilty by an academic investigative committee of:

1. Falsification, as discussed in Allegations A, B, C, and D.

2. Fabrication, as discussed in Allegations C and D.

3. Plagiarism, as discussed in Allegations E and G.

4. Failure to comply with established standards regarding author names on publications, as discussed most fully in Allegation F but also in Allegations A, B, and D.

5. Serious deviation from accepted practices in reporting results from research, as discussed in Allegation D.

But I take it that Prof. Sheehi has a different view of Churchill?s behavior. (Note that the $1 jury verdict in Churchill?s favor seems likely based on a conclusion that the academic misconduct allegations against Churchill were correct ? hence the lack of damages ? but that the University actually fired Churchill at least in large part for his protected political advocacy; but misconduct by the university hardly cancels out the misconduct by Churchill.)

Full post as published by The Volokh Conspiracy on February 07, 2011 (boomark / email).