Academic Freedom on Trial: and the Welcome Erosion of

Introduction

My recent legal victory against the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW) has received a great deal of media attention. That focus is justified, since the victory was indeed historic. In fact, it may be the first case in the history of American jurisprudence in which a conservative professor successfully won a jury verdict against a public university over alleged First Amendment retaliation. The case is also significant because a federal judge, in addition to awarding attorney fees and back pay, ordered a promotion as a result of the verdict. Yet no aspect of the case is as important as the academic freedom issue clarified by the 2011 appellate court, which paved the way for the 2014 federal jury trial and the ultimate victory.

Explaining how the appellate court’s analysis has advanced academic freedom requires some factual and