First
Amendment Cited in La Sierra University Lawsuit
1.
LA
SIERRA: First Amendment cited in university
lawsuit ... - PE.com
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19 Sep 2011 The legal wrangling
in a case involving the resignations of three La Sierra University employees has
veered into questions of religious freedom ...
Re: La Sierra College --
LA SIERRA: First Amendment cited in
university lawsuit
BY DAVID OLSON
STAFF WRITER
dolson@...
Published: 19 September 2011 10:08
PM
AText Size The legal wrangling in a case involving
the resignations of three La
Sierra University employees has veered into questions of religious freedom
and
the university's accreditation.
The three sued the university in July. They contend Ricardo Graham, the
chairman of the La Sierra board and a top Seventh-day Adventist Church
official, illegally coerced them into resigning after hearing a recording of
the three criticizing Graham and two top Adventist education officials. Two
remain at the university as professors, but not in their previous
administrative posts.
ARCHIVE
LA SIERRA: Four resign after recording emerges (June 2011)
Former La Sierra University administrators, professor file suit (July 2011)
Riverside: Accrediting commission warns La Sierra University (Aug. 2011)
The three acknowledge in their suit they were "very critical" of
the officials
after an April meeting that discussed concerns about the Adventist-affiliated
university's adherence to church teaching. An Adventist church body has
criticized La Sierra for not doing enough to present church teaching on
Biblical
creationism in its science classes.
Graham, the Pacific Union Adventist conference Graham heads, the Adventist
church's education division and the two education officials also are named in
the suit.
In their recently filed response to the suit, La Sierra and the Adventist
conference and division say that their actions are protected by the First
Amendment.
La Sierra is a religious institution and has the right to require
high-ranking
employees to follow the direction of Adventist organizations' leaders, said
Michael Connally, an attorney for La Sierra and the
Adventist conference and
division. The response states that by being "very critical" of the
three church
officials, the plaintiffs criticized the religious mission of the university
and
church.
"The plaintiffs' complaint is asking the court to decide how La Sierra
is
allowed to relate to Seventh-day Adventist Church organizations, and the
First
Amendment doesn't allow the courts to do that," Connally
said.
Richard McCune, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said the First Amendment
argument is "nonsense." He said his clients are challenging the
lack of due
process and the coercive nature of the resignations, not church doctrine.
McCune said his clients are worried the legal response could endanger La
Sierra's accreditation. In July, the regional association that accredits
universities sent a letter to La Sierra expressing concern about the
"forced
resignations" because they appeared to be orchestrated by officials
acting on
behalf of the church, not the university. The letter said La Sierra risks
sanction and eventual de-accreditation unless changes are made to its
structure.
--- In adventism_prophecy@yahoogroups.com,
"UliciaU" <mydedication2000@...
wrote:
Here are some of the interesting
comments --
La Sierra University is not a
separate institution, and is, instead, part of
a single unified church entity.
La Sierra University is not a true
University, but rather a "church operated
college (emphasis added)"
That the spiritual leaders of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church know what is
best for this Seventh-day Adventist university, implying that Church leaders
should be making academic and curriculum decisions.
That this controversy is a
theological one.
According to ATNews:
This position is in direct conflict
with the previous express statement of La
Sierra University administration to the faculty, WASC, and the community,
claiming that the forced resignations had nothing to do with the
"origins
controversy."
Another link you may like to look
through is
http://www.mccunewright.com/lasierra.php
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