Brickbat: It All Adds Up

A federal court has ordered the University of Iowa to pay $1.93 million in legal fees to the attorneys for two Christian student groups the university was found to have discriminated against. The university deregistrered Business Leaders in Christ, which requires that those seeking leadership positions adhere to Christian ethics, including abstaining from sexual activity outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. A gay student complained that this requirement barred him from a leadership position in the club. The school went on to deregister other student organizations that required religious beliefs for leadership positions, including Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, which also challenged its deregistering. A July decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit ruled such discrimination unconstitutional.

Comments

[m4019597]

The court was wrong.

Universities should be free to reject religious groups funded with student fees.

[Davy C]

If you allow students to form groups that get funded by student fees at all, you as a university can't discriminate on who gets the money based on viewpoint.

But the groups themselves can, and for good reason. We don't want the situation where, say, a bunch of Democrats join the Young Republicans and hijack the group.

[Brandybuck]

> We don't want the situation where, say, a bunch of Democrats join the Young Republicans and hijack the group.

Such things have happened.

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[Chumby]

Taxpayers should be exempt from being forced to fund these money pits in perpetuity.

[mad.casual]

They are free to reject religious groups funded with student fees. They just aren't free to reject religious groups who otherwise meet the student group criteria for their beliefs post hoc.

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[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Sure, as long as "religious" groups include those based on ideology, race, indigenous status, or any others that have strict doctrines and would exclude dissenters.

[Rossami]

On the contrary, the court got this entirely right. Universities are free to reject religious groups funded with student fees - but only if they also reject all other groups funded with student fees on a fair and equal basis.

Note by the way that this rule is limited to public universities - that is, legal entities which are an arm of the government. Private institutions remain free to discriminate however they want. Don't like their practices? Go to a private school.

[Á àß äẞç ãþÇđ âÞ¢Đæ ǎB€Ðëf ảhf]

Agreed; freedom of association is too much ignored.

Presumably you also agree that racists should be able to freely associate, to refuse to hire blacks and Jews and Catholics.

Sororities should be able to exclude men, and the university should be able to exclude those sororities.

And so on. Do you have any principles at all, or are you just winging your wokeness?

[Inigo Montoya]

I have to wonder what the university would have done had the group had the exact same stipulations but had instead called themselves Business Leaders in Allah and had been for Muslims. (Let’s assume they would simply have told the gay student who wanted join to get lost rather than throwing him off a roof.)

[Fist of Etiquette]

According to the article (and an understanding of how higher education administration hacks think) Muslim groups were, in fact, free to discriminate.

In its lawsuit, BLinC accused the UI of selectively applying its human rights policy, noting other student groups — like Muslim and ethnic groups and fraternities and sororities — are allowed to restrict leadership and membership based on gender, ethnicity and ideology.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

That's some grade A anti-racism right there.

[Ed Grinberg]

All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

[R Mac]

“(Let’s assume they would simply have told the gay student who wanted join to get lost rather than throwing him off a roof.)”

Why?

[Illocust]

Because as fist of etiquette's post above shows, Muslims would have been treated differently for the same behavior.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Get woke! Consistency denies equity!

[kcuch]

I think R Mac was asking why assume something not very likely to occur.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Before voting Monday to approve the nearly $2 million in payments, State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald asked Solicitor General Jeffrey Thompson to explain the decisions that propelled such costly litigation.

...

Thompson explained that the UI does consult with its Office of the General Counsel and “We were involved in this process from the beginning.” The situation was complicated, he said, and began with the gay student filing a human rights complaint against BLinC. Thompson asserted the two lawsuits were part of a bigger push to establish legal precedence.

“One of the reasons that these cases were brought and this started, this was initially a test case that was designed to create litigation,” Thompson said.

Your advice was purposefully inept and you cost the school large bucks and set the opposite precedent they wanted.

[mad.casual]

The situation was complicated, he said, and began with the gay student filing a human rights complaint against BLinC. Thompson asserted the two lawsuits were part of a bigger push to establish legal precedence.

Isn't it really weird how the Business Leaders in Christ group didn't seem to have 'Good Samaritan' Protections For Blocking and Screening of Offensive Material?

[rbike]

Sad to say I have a degree from this University. It was my only option to attend a 4 year University and I was happy with the curriculum which has served me well. Their administration appears to be idiots though.

[Jerryskids]

Their administration appears to be idiots though.

To be fair, you can say the same about most universities these days, especially as "the administration" includes increasingly large hordes of Diversity, Inclusiveness, and Equity types with no discernible job skills outside of the narrow academic administration field.

[Longtobefree]

Just wondering - how many lawyers does it take to bill 1.93 million dollars?

[John F. Carr]

I can't say how many lawyers, but the linked article says over 3,000 hours were billed at rates from $290 to $914 per hour.

[Rossami]

And for scale, 3000 hours is 1.5 person-years at a 40-hour week or 1.0 person-years at a 60-hour week. Granted, no one works on a single case full-time. The courts just don't work that way. But it's also true that this litigation started back in 2017 so it's taken 4 years to resolve.

Best guess - a dozen or so during the document review stage (but that was probably comparatively short duration) plus a core team of 3-5 working intermittently for the duration of the case. Plus non-attorney support staff, technology, travel, overhead, etc. Getting this case done for less than $2M is probably a pretty good deal.

[Jerry B.]

Just another example of the Liberal bias against Christianity, apparently based on their belief that only Republicans can be Christians.

[mad.casual]

Why didn't the gay dude just build his own Business Leaders in Christ group?

[Don't look at me!]

Truly successful people don’t join groups.

[Unicorn Abattoir]

I won't join any group with standards low enough to admit me.

[Á àß äẞç ãþÇđ âÞ¢Đæ ǎB€Ðëf ảhf]

Sheesh! At least pay respect to Mr Marx.

Plagiarist!

[mad.casual]

*Haaawck Phtooo!*

Oh, you meant Groucho, not Karl.

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[Vernon Depner]

One of the best places to hook up with gay men on high school and college campuses is at the prayer meetings and Bible studies.

[Chumby]

Except Mormon Bible study groups.

[mad.casual]

Imagine wanting a trope to be true. And not a quasi-aspirational, attention-whoring desire like "I wish I were a rich, Navy SEAL-divemaster-sniper, married to a Swedish bikini model." but "I wish other people would act like my stereotypes so I wasn't so lonely."