'Marquette seems to be behaving quite badly here'

Eugene Volokh weighs in at The Volokh Conspiracy blog in The Washington Post.

"Given that the university’s actions seem to be based just on [Professor John] McAdams’s criticism of another instructor (though I’d love to hear more from readers who know any further facts on all this) those actions strikes me as quite improper. Marquette is a private university, and thus not bound by the First Amendment; and Wisconsin is not one of the states that generally restricts private employer retaliation based on an employee’s speech. Still, Marquette frames itself as a university that respects academic freedom and free speech rights. Acting this way towards a faculty member who publicly expresses his opinions on an important issue, including when the issue involves what he sees as improper suppression of student views by a colleague, stifles that freedom."

(For background, see Matt's earlier post.)