Jewish Students Accuse University of Fostering Antisemitic Environment

A group of Jewish students has filed a lawsuit against Harvard University, alleging that the prestigious institution has allowed its campus to become a “bastion” of rampant antisemitism. The complaint, filed in Boston federal court, claims that Harvard has been selectively enforcing its policies, failing to protect Jewish students from harassment, and neglecting their pleas for intervention. Additionally, the students accuse the university of hiring professors who support anti-Jewish violence and spread antisemitic propaganda.

Calls for Action Intensify Following President’s Resignation

The legal action comes in the wake of Harvard President Claudine Gay’s resignation, which was prompted by heavy criticism of her response to antisemitism on campus. The controversy escalated following Hamas’ attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. The complaint, filed last Wednesday night, seeks remedies such as an injunction to bar Harvard from violating federal civil rights laws prohibiting discrimination.

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Growing Trend of Lawsuits Against Academic Institutions

Harvard is not alone in facing legal challenges related to allegations of antisemitism. Similar lawsuits have been filed against other prestigious universities, including New York University and the University of California, Berkeley. The legal actions reflect a broader trend of academic institutions grappling with disputes over free speech and the right to protest amid the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, which has been ongoing for the past three months.

Universities Under Scrutiny Amid Global Turmoil

As the Israel-Hamas conflict continues to unfold, academic institutions worldwide find themselves at the center of debates over free speech and the right to protest. The lawsuit against Harvard underscores the challenges faced by universities in addressing and preventing antisemitism on their campuses.

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Harvard Yet to Respond

Despite the gravity of the allegations and the students’ legal action, Harvard University has not yet responded to the accusations.

Don’t be a silent ninja! Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

The post Harvard Faces Lawsuit Amid Allegations of Antisemitism first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

Two Brooklyn lawyers were charged with taking part in a Molotov cocktail attack on a New York police patrol car early Saturday morning during protests over the death of George Floyd.

 Federal authorities identified the New York lawyers involved in the attack as Colinford King Mattis, 32, a Princeton educated associate at the midsize law firm of Pryor Cashman LLP, who is currently furloughed and Urooj Rahman, 31, a human rights lawyer. 

The lawyers were driving around in the minivan near a clash between police and protesters, when Rahman allegedly hurled the Molotov cocktail at an NYPD vehicle, outside the 88th Precinct stationhouse in Fort Greene. An NYPD surveillance camera recorded Rahman climbing out of a tan 2015 Chrysler Town and Country minivan driven by Mattis and moving toward the patrol car, the complaint said. As she got close, the attorney lit a fuse hanging out of a Bud Light beer bottle and tossed it through an already broken window of the police car, igniting its console. She then returned to the minivan and the pair fled, the complaint said. 

The vehicle was unoccupied when the Molotov cocktail ignited, and no one was injured, the authorities said. The attack left the dashboard of the police car charred after a night of violent clashes between police and demonstrators.

The officers saw the attorney hurl the Molotov cocktail and followed the two lawyers as they tried to flee the scene. A patrol car stopped them several blocks away, officials said.

Inside the van,  the police saw materials for making more Molotov cocktails — a bottle filled with toilet paper and what was believed to be gasoline inside and a lighter, the complaint said.

 Both attorneys were arrested shortly after the attack and charged in a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Brooklyn.

Mattis, graduated from Princeton University in 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology and earned a J.D. from New York University Law School in 2016. The Ivy-league educated attorney began working in 2018 as an associate in the corporate group at Pryor Cashman, where he advises private and public companies, their executives and boards on joint ventures, financing and corporate governance and mergers and acquisitions, among other matters.

Ronald H. Shechtman, the Managing Partner at Pryor Cashman, said in a statement Mattis had been furloughed from the firm in April and that his status would be reviewed by the firm this week.

While we were already living in fraught times, the terrible situation around the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis has added painful stress to our lives,” Shechtman said. “As we confront critical issues around historic and ongoing racism and inequity in our society, I am saddened to see this young man allegedly involved in the worst kind of reaction to our shared outrage over what had occurred,” the statement said.

As of Sunday, his profile on the law firm’s website was deleted.  

Matis is also a member of Community Board 5 in East New York, the Brooklyn neighbourhood where he lives.

‘This is shocking news to me. The allegation does surprise me because that doesn’t sound like him,’ Andre Mitchell, president of Community Board 5, said to the Daily News. 

Rahman graduated from Fordham University in New York and was identified as a human right lawyer in a Facebook post about  a talk she was scheduled to give to a Muslim Group and was to discuss  “Love of the Earth.”

The super of Rahman’s building in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn described her as ‘an angel’ who recently lost her legal job.

‘I can’t believe it. I’m stunned. This kid? She’s an angel,’ George Raleigh told Daily Mail.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Margo Brodie ordered the release of Matis over the objection of prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York.

Brodie upheld U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven Gold’s ruling that Colinford Mattis, could be released to confinement in his Brooklyn home on a $250,000 bond. Prosecutors argued that Mattis should be detained because he had “not demonstrated himself to be a rational person” early Saturday, when he allegedly drove a van from which another attorney, 31-year-old Urooj Rahman, allegedly emerged to throw a Molotov cocktail at an unoccupied NYPD vehicle.

“The conduct was reckless, it was violent, it was completely lawless,” Brodie said, but she noted that both defendants seemed to have stable lives and support from their families and friends.

The post Two Lawyers Arrested in Molotov Cocktail Attack on Police car in Brooklyn first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

Summary: An FBI report classifies black identity extremists as a domestic terrorist threat for their violence against police officers.

A report from the Federal Bureau of Investigations counterterrorism division has classified “black identity extremists” as a violent domestic threat. Since the 2014 shooting incident in Ferguson, Mo of Michael Brown, protests, and violence directed towards the police and their treatment of African-Americans have increased.

Foreign Policy magazine first reported the warning from the FBI, which says “It is very likely BIEs proactively target police and openly identify and justify their actions with social-political agendas commensurate with their perceived injustices against African Americans…”

Brown, an 18-year-old African American, was shot and killed after struggling with a white police officer. The officer was cleared of any wrongdoing and resigned from the department. Brown was stopped by the officer after getting a call about a convenience store robbery. The store clerk had been strong-armed when the suspect, whose description matched Brown, tried to leave.

The two apparently got into a scuffle with Brown trying to reach for the officer’s gun. Brown attempted to run away with the officer chasing him and eventually shooting him. Brown supporters claim he had his hands up when he was shot but the police found no evidence to support this claim.

Protests erupted in Ferguson and throughout the country, spawning the Black Lives Matter movement. With every future incident involving African American suspects, the protests became bigger and more violent with the support of BLM and social media.

The FBI report indicates that they had once considered a potential for violence of black identity extremism but now that violence has occurred is “likely” to continue. The reports states: “It is very likely that BIE’s perceptions of unjust treatment of African-Americans and the perceived unchallenged illegitimate actions of law enforcement will inspire premeditated attacks against law enforcement over the next year. It is very likely additional controversial police shootings of African-Americans and the associated legal proceedings will continue to serve as drivers for violence against law enforcement.”

BIEs have turned to attacking police officers, the most notable attack happening last year in Dallas, Texas. An African American gunman hid in a parking garage and shot 11 police officers, five of which died, during a demonstration protesting police shootings.

President Scott Walter of Capital Research Center supports the FBI report. He said, “It’s not racial profiling, it’s violence profiling. Identity politics can kill, whether it’s white identity politics, which killed in Charlottesville, or black identity politics, which kills cops.” He added, “We have to be able to distinguish between free speech and violence. Many longtime activist groups were not obsessed with violence.”

National spokesman for Blue Lives Matter, Randy Sutton, said, “Nobody is saying anything negative about protests. Protesting is everyone’s right. This is about committing acts of violence. Many Black Lives Matter protests call for violence against police, with chants like ‘What do we want?’ and ‘Dead cops!’ It’s terrorism, and it’s no different than Islamic terrorism.”

Sutton added, “Police are not being as aggressive because of the political climate. There’s been a dramatic decrease in proactive policing.” He noted that the increase in attacks on police officers has caused them to treat their jobs differently.

Do you agree with the classification by the FBI? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

To learn more about the shooting attack on police in Dallas, read these articles:

• Dallas Police Sergeant Sues Black Lives Matter for Allegedly Igniting “Race War”
• Sister of Dallas Sniper Posts Racist Rant Night before Killing Spree
• Dallas Shooting Victim Thanks Police, Police Chief Urges Protestors to Join the Force

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

The post Black Identity Extremists Labeled as Domestic Terrorists first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

Summary: A nine year battle of lawsuits against each other has turned into aggressive protests by the strippers at the church.

Church-goers are being harassed by strippers from a nearby strip-club in Warsaw, Ohio. The New Beginnings Ministries members have been forced to deal with half-naked strippers from Foxhole strip-club as they come and go from church each Sunday. The protesters are standing outside the doors and following members to their cars with the female stripper even taking off their tops.

The Ministry has filed a lawsuit against the strip-club owner and strippers, stating that they are threatening members, blocking the church entrances and exits, violating the First Amendment right to religious freedom, and violating the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.

The defendant, strip-club owner Thomas George, and the plaintiff, Pastor William Dunfee, have been battling each other for nine-years. The battle started when members of the church would protest on the weekends outside the strip-club.

George sued the church in 2009 but lost the case. He then gathered his employees are started protesting at the church. For the past year, the protesters have become more aggressive in their antics, targeting children with “sexual slurs, nudity and obscene language.”

The latest lawsuit claims that George and two protesters followed a man to his car where one of the strippers then took her top off and asked, “Don’t you wanna see my (breasts)?” Then the female strippers started wearing G-strings.

The lawsuit is seeking a permanent injunction to stop the protesters from blocking access to the church, intimidating members, and intruding on the property. The lawsuit is also seeking a restraining order for Dunfee against George.

Source: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/09/10/church-files-against-strip-club.html

Photo: theblaze.com

The post Local Strip-Club and Church at War first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

Summary: The family of Freddie Gray has settled with the city of Baltimore before the officers involved in the incident have even faced a trial to prove their innocence.

Freddie Gray’s death with in Baltimore police custody set off riots and protests to a scale that the city hasn’t seen since 1968. Gray suffered a fatal neck injury while in the back of a police van after being arrested. In a few days, a judge will be deciding whether the trials of the six officers involved with move forward.

The settlement for $6.4 million will be approved by city leaders. The family had not yet filed a civil suit but the city knew they would so they acted first to provide a settlement. While Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake told everyone not to take the settlement as a judgement on the officers involved.

The police union thinks differently. They are condemning the timing of the settlement, especially before the officers even faced a trial. The settlement amount aligns with other recent settlements that involved race and police actions.

The family of Eric Garner in New York settled for $5.9 million. The estate of Kenneth Smith in Cleveland settled for $5.5 million.

The six officers involved will be tried separately, all with varying levels of charges. The driver could be charged with the most serious charge of second-degree depraved-heart murder for not listening to Gray’s pleas for help while he was driving. Gray has been improperly restrained in the back of the police van.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/09/us/freddie-gray-baltimore-police-death.html

Photo: baltimoresun.com

The post Freddie Gray Family Settles with Baltimore for $6.4 Million first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

Summary: The first hearings in the Freddie Gray case have established that charges will proceed against the officers involved, and that Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby will stay on the case.

According to NPR, a Baltimore judge rejected a motion that would have dismissed charges against six police officers who are accused of being involved in the death of Freddie Gray, who died while in police custody. Gray, 25, suffered fatal injuries as he was being transported while in the custody of Caesar R. Goodson Jr., Garrett E. Miller, Edward M. Nero, William G. Porter, Brian W. Rice, and Alicia D. White.

The judge also tossed out a motion that argued Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby should be kicked out of the case. According to CNN, defense attorneys argued that Mosby’s office issued orders for the police to increase their presence in the area where Gray was initially arrested.

Wednesday was the first day of court hearings in the case involving Gray’s death. Protests and unrest were reported throughout the city, including at the courthouse where the hearings were heard.

A law school has actually created a “Freddie Gray” course.

Some protestors blocked a street, and a helicopter hovering overhead ordered the group to break it up. One protestor was arrested. Police reportedly put a taser on one protestor’s back, but it was not clear if it was deployed. The protester was taken into a police van, and was later moved into an ambulance.

As for the charges against the officers, the driver has been charged with second degree murder. Three officers face manslaughter charges, and two others have received lesser charges.

Read about the indictment of the officers here.

Dozens of issues remain in the case. It has not yet been determined whether the officers will stand trial together in October, or whether they will each have their own individual trials. The Baltimore Sun adds that prosecutors have previously stated they would like to try Nero, Miller, Goodson, and White together in one trial, and try Rice and Porter together in a separate trial. Venue for the trial has also not been finalized, as some feel the trial should take place outside of Baltimore.

Sharon Black of the Baltimore People’s Power Assembly commented, “Our message is pretty obvious. Do not drop the charges. No change in venue. Do not recuse Marilyn Mosby.”

Mosby gained national attention after she stated that officers would face charges.

In May, at the prodding of Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, the Department of Justice launched a civil rights investigation into the Baltimore Police Department.

Read about the investigation here.

Source: NPR

Photo credit: phillymag.com, thedailyrecord.com (Mosby)

The post Death of Freddie Gray: Charges Remain against Officers first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

Summary: While some may not understand the importance of the Supreme Court to remain a neutral place, the courts have upheld the rule that no protests are allowed on the property.

Protests are not allowed outside the U.S. Supreme Court building. The closest they can be to the “Equal Justice Under Law” building is the sidewalk. A federal appeals court panel has upheld the 1949 law.

The Supreme Court is supposed to be the ultimate protector of constitutional rights, the guarantee of protest and free speech. A law in 1949 made it unlawful to demonstrate on the high court’s grounds in order to make sure the building remained neutral.

The concern is that allowing a party to protest their views outside the building may give the public the idea that the building and the justices inside were swayed to one viewpoint. “Allowing demonstrations directed at the Court, on the Court’s own front terrace, would tend to yield the opposite impression: that of a Court engaged with – and potentially vulnerable to – outside entreaties by the public.”

The 50-foot-wide sidewalks surrounding the court can be filled with protestors of controversial cases busy chanting, bullhorn blaring, and flag waving. The Supreme Court ruled in 1983 that the sidewalk would be allowed for protesting.

Critics find the ruling hypocritical. The Court allows protestors to demonstrate their view outside abortion clinics but the same can’t be done outside their building. For a building to represent freedom of speech, especially political speech, the fact that they can’t do so in front of the building may not seem fair.

A U.S District Judge had sided against the law in 2013, stating “it cannot possibly be consistent with the First Amendment for the government to so broadly prohibit expression in virtually any form in front of a courthouse, even the Supreme Court.” The Supreme Court followed with their own rules.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/protesters-have-no-free-speech-rights-on-supreme-courts-front-porch/2015/08/28/f79ae262-4d9e-11e5-bfb9-9736d04fc8e4_story.html

Photo: harrisonreedpa.wordpress.com

The post Protests on the Supreme Court Grounds Still Not Allowed first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

Summary: The medical examiner has ruled Freddie Gray’s death as a homicide, leading to the quick decision to charge six police officers involved in the incident.

After protests and riots broke out on Monday in Baltimore over the death of Freddie Gray, protestors are finally seeing a glimpse of justice. Six police officers involved in the death of Gray are being charged. The charges range from misconduct in office to second-degree murder.

The officer being charged with murder was the driver of the van. The charge has a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. The other charges carry maximum sentences of three years to ten years in prison.

Gray was arrested on April 12 and placed inside a police van for transport. He was handcuffed but not otherwise restrained. He suffered a neck injury while in transit, asking for help at least twice but police waited 45 minutes before seeking help. When he was removed from the van, he was not breathing. Gray died from the injury a week later. His death has been ruled as a homicide by the medical examiner.

Prosecutor Marilyn Mosby said in a news conference on the steps of the War Memorial Building in Baltimore that she has “heard your call for ‘no justice, no peace’” while pleading with protestors to restore peace. The police had finalized their internal investigation yesterday, bringing a quick decision by Mosby to press charges. After her announcement, the streets of Baltimore erupted in cheers.

Members of the black community have been on edge after several incidents involving unarmed black men being killed by police have occurred in the last year. The protests and riots after Gray’s funeral on Monday have erupted in other cities across the nation as well. More demonstrations are planned for the weekend but the hopes are that they will have a more peaceful tone after this announcement.

The union representing the officers has asked for a special prosecutor to be appointed.

See “The Baltimore Protests Affect Three Law School Final Exam Schedules” to learn how law schools in the area are dealing with the protests and 10pm curfew.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/01/us-usa-police-baltimore-idUSKBN0NL1GO20150501

Photo: nymag.com

The post Baltimore Police Officers Being Charged with Freddie Gray’s Death first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

Summary: Three Baltimore area law schools have provided alternate exam schedules in response to the protests and riots taking over the city.

The University of the District of Columbia David A Clarke School of Law has decided to postpone one final exam for students that provide legal support to Baltimore protestors. The legal students can delay that one exam until May 11.

Since Monday, Baltimore has experienced protests and riots over the death of Freddie Gray on April 19. Gray died while in police custody from spinal injuries. Baltimore is now under a 10 pm curfew. The relationship between black communities and police has been strained for months since several similar cases have occurred.

The David A Clarke School of Law is located 30 miles from Baltimore. Wednesday was the first day of exams.

The University of Baltimore closed at 2 pm Wednesday but the School of Law at that university had not yet taken finals.

The University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law closed at 2 pm on Monday and at 7:30pm on Tuesday and Wednesday so that students and employees could obey the 10 pm curfew. This school began their finals on Monday but is allowing students the ability to taken the exams at home. The school was unsure of when they would be open since things were so violent so they decided to give their students flexibility. Students can download testing software to their computer any time over a two day period of when the exam is scheduled. The software prevents them from accessing other parts of their computer such as the internet or hard drive in order to prevent cheating. A few students wanted the tests to be postponed, but most did not want to push back exams any farther.

Columbia Law School, Georgetown University Law Center and Harvard Law School have also had conflicts with their final exam schedule with the protests in Missouri and New York after the grand juries declined to indict police officers for killing black men.

The Dean of David A Clarke School of Law, Shelley Broderick, understands that the best trained lawyers will be needed to address the police-accountability movement, aiding in their decision to allow students the opportunity to provide legal support to those involved in exchange for pushing one exam back.

Source: http://www.nationallawjournal.com/home/id=1202725007562?slreturn=20150330124034

Photo: nytimes.com

The post The Baltimore Protests Affect Three Law School Final Exam Schedules first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

Summary: Columbia University School of Law has announced that students will be allowed to delay their final exams if they have suffered mental trauma from the recent grand jury decisions in the Eric Garner and Michael Brown cases.

According to the Daily Caller, law students at Columbia University will be allowed to postpone taking their final exams if they suffered mental trauma from the recent grand jury decisions in the Eric Garner and Michael Brown cases. Interim dean Robert Scott stated in a message to students, “The law school has a policy and a set of procedures for students who experience trauma during exam period. In accordance with these procedures and policy, students who feel that their performance on examinations will be sufficiently impaired due to the effects of these recent events may petition Dean Alice Rigas to have an examination rescheduled.”

Scott noted the recent grand jury decisions that have been the center of news media outlets nationwide: the decision not to indict Ferguson, Missouri police officer Darren Wilson for the shooting of Michael Brown, and the decision not to indict NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo for his use of a chokehold that killed Eric Garner.

Read about a flash mob that assembled after Garner’s death.

Both decisions, closely followed by the media, resulted in protests. Both police officers are white, and both men who died are black. The decisions sparked an increase in racial tension across the United States. Violence and looting broke out in Ferguson when the decision was announced, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. Protestors also filled New York’s Times Square after the Eric Garner decision was announced.

Read an analysis of the Garner grand jury decision.

But why should law students be able to postpone their exams because of these decisions? Scott explains, “The grand juries’ determinations to return non-indictments in the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases have shaken the faith of some in the integrity of the grand jury system and in the law more generally. For some law students, particularly, though not only, students of color, this chain of events is all the more profound as it threatens to undermine a sense that the law is a fundamental pillar of society designed to protect fairness, due process and equality.”

Michael Brown’s family has vowed to continue seeking justice.

In addition, the law school will also hold special sessions in the coming week with Dr. Shirley Matthews, a trauma specialist. Several faculty members will also hold special office hours to discuss the grand jury decisions with students.

Next semester, the school plans to conduct a reading group, a speaker series, and teach-ins to “formulate a response to the implications, including racial meanings, of these non-indictments.”

Photo credit: businessinsider.com

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