Friday, October 11, 2013

Cal State Northridge Still Getting Mail on Professor David Klein

Here is the latest exchange of letters between the AMCHA Initiative's  complaint against Cal State Northridge Math professor David Klein for his use of a CSUN server to propagate his personal views on Israel. The first letter is to G. Andrew Jones, CSU interim counsel. His (initial) letter to AMCHA is below. 
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Dear CSU Interim General Counsel Jones,

Thank you for your email reiterating your legal opinion that Prof. Klein "has not violated Education Code 89005.5 because he has not used nor invoked the CSU name in support of his viewpoint."

Once again we feel compelled to point out that your interpretation of 89005.5(a)(2)(C) does not accord with the letter of the law, which does NOT require that an individual use or invoke the CSU name "in support of his viewpoint" to be in violation of the statute, but only that he or she use the CSU name, without the permission of the CSU Trustees, "to display...this name publicly at, or in connection with any...propaganda, advertising, or promotional activity of any kind which has for its purpose or any part of its purpose the support, endorsement, advancement...of...boycott." The subdivision is quite clear and nowhere suggests that the individual who is using the CSU name must have the intention of using that name "in support of his viewpoint."
Nevertheless, while it is clear that Klein is in violation of a prima facie reading of 89005.5(a)(2)(C), we also think that Klein is in violation of 89005.5 even according to what we believe to be your mistaken legal interpretation, and that he has indeed used and invoked the CSU name "in support of his viewpoint." Consider the following:

  • Like the vast majority of university faculty across the country, Prof. Klein could have used a private email address and a private website to send or post messages that are unambiguously political in nature and obviously intended to encourage political activism. It may have been that when Klein originally posted his "Boycott Israel Resource Page" on the CSUN server more than three years ago, he did so to save money or out of convenience, and not in order to use the CSU name to promote his personal political activity. However, after Klein was made aware of the concerns of the Jewish community regarding the antisemitic nature of his webpage as well as the potential legal concerns that were raised by many individuals -- both of which Klein documented on his "Boycott Israel Resource Page" as they were happening -- there is no doubt that for the last two years he has consciously chosen to use his CSUN email account (david.klein@csun.edu) and the CSUN server (http://www.csun.edu/~vcmth00m/boycott.html), rather than a low cost or free private email address and private server, to promote the boycott of Israel. Moreover, in an article  that appeared on 6/5/12 in the Electronic Intifada, an online publication that promotes calls for the boycott of Israel, Klein urged other faculty to use their university's name and resources "to do similar things, to go ahead and take a public stand against apartheid in Israel and ethnic cleansing, and all the injustices there." We believe that a reasonable person who was aware of these facts would suppose that Klein was using the CSUN name to provide academic and institutional legitimacy "in support of his viewpoint," for the purpose of advancing his political ends.

  • You may remember that about 10 years ago the CSU Trustees appealed the decision of a Superior Court Judge who did not find the owner of Bello's Sporting Goods to be in violation of California Education Code 89005.5 for selling articles of clothing and other items with the name "Cal Poly" on them. The Appellate Court judges reversed that decision and found the store owner in violation of 89005.5(a)(2)(B), which prohibits using the CSU name or any variation of that name for commercial purposes, without the permission of the CSU Trustees. Interestingly, the Appellate Court ruling contains language which elucidates the meaning and intent of 89005.5: "the words 'Cal Poly' have acquired value as a result of organization and the expenditure of labor, skill and money by CSU. Bello's has no constitutional right to exploit the value of the university's hard-won reputation." We believe that the same understanding of the law can and should be used to demonstrate that Klein's use of the CSUN name is a violation of 89005.5(a)(2)(C), which prohibits the unauthorized use of the CSU name for the "support, endorsement, advancement...of... boycott". In other words, the name "CSUN" has "acquired value as a result of organization and the expenditure of labor, skill and money by CSU," and Klein "has no constitutional right to exploit the value of the university's hard-won reputation" for the purpose of supporting, endorsing and advancing the boycott of Israel.

In light of these considerations, we ask you to reconsider your position on this matter.


Thank you,
Tammi Rossman-Benjamin
Co-founder, AMCHA Initiative
Leila Beckwith
Co-founder, AMCHA Initiative


CC: CSU Board of Trustees
CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White
CSUN President Dianne Harrison
Attorney General Kamala Harris
Deputy Attorney General Stepan Haytayun
Senior Assistant Attorney General Douglas Wood
California Speaker of the Assembly John A. Perez
California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson
California State Senator Alex Padilla (Northridge)
California Assembly Member Joan Buchanan, Chair of the Assembly Education Committee
U.S. Congressman District 30 Brad Sherman
California Jewish community leaders
Abraham Foxman, National Director of the Anti-Defamation Leagues
BCC: Wide circulation in the Jewish community
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On Oct 8, 2013, at 2:58 PM, Jones, Andrew wrote:







Dear Ms. Rossman-Benjamin,
To follow up on our conversation last Friday October 4th, which occurred after receiving and reviewing your most recent letter addressed to President Harrison, let me reiterate that although Klein's link is on his faculty web page, he nonetheless has not violated Education Code 89005.5 because he has not used nor invoked the CSU name in support of his viewpoint. Klein’s work is his work alone, and does not carry the agreement, support or endorsement of CSUN, its president, nor the Chancellor and Board of Trustees.
As we have corresponded on this matter several times, it is now time to move forward in the absence of any new developments.
Sincerely,
Andrew Jones
G. Andrew Jones | California State University
Interim General Counsel | Office of General Counsel
401 Golden Shore | 4th Floor | Long Beach, CA 90802-4210
Main 562-951-4500 | Fax 562-951-4956 |
gajones@calstate.edu
From: Tammi Benjamin









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It appears from the AMCHA letter that Klein is brazenly using the CSUN server to continue his propaganda campaign against Israel (and who knows what else?) and urging his supporters to do likewise. Looks to me like the administration of Cal State Northridege have lost control over their university.

The CSU system is separate from the University of California, but Section D2 of the UC Irvine policy on this question says the following:


D. Individual Use by Campus Employees

  1. Employees may use the University’s Name and the Campus Names in making true and accurate statements of their relationship with, or employment by, the University of California in the course of application for other employment, or stating the employee’s experience or qualifications for any academic, governmental, business or professional credit or enrollment.

  2. Employees may not use the University’s Name, or the Campus Names, or their affiliation with the University in any manner which suggests or implies University support or endorsement of any movement, activity or program. In circumstances where University endorsement or support may be construed from an individual’s use, a disclaimer is required.

http://www.policies.uci.edu/adm/pols/700-20.html

4 comments:

  1. I wonder how fast he would be fired if his criticism was against Islam and not Judaism?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank God we have women like Tammi and Leila who have the intelligence and will to fight these battles that the men who should also be in the forefront of this fight somehow have faded into the background.

    Are they unconcerned with this outrage and unaware of what leads to what? Are they without resources? Or will? Or are they preoccupied with the defense of Barrack Obama? Of all the possibilities I can think of the last one is the most probable. Their religion is now the Democratic Party and their birth religion and brethren in Israel are low order priorities.
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    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous,

    Criticism of Israel is absolutely covered under free speech. What is at issue here is whether a professor can use university resources to promote any political or personal cause. As activist and opinionated as I am, I don't use UCI web servers to promote and spread my opinions around the campus and student body. In my view, Klein is abusing his position and access to CSUN resources and makes it appear as if CSUN is putting their endorsement on his views. Given their stubborn defense of Klein, I suspect they do endorse his views.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous displays the common ignorance about the Constitution and Freedom of Speech, etc. so prevalent among "Middle Easterners" here.

    First, they demonstrate their knee jerk antisemitism and then try to wedge in some American constitutional right to defend it.

    They misinterpret circumstances so that Jew Hatred activity somehow sounds all-American. The UCI 11 tried the same tactic and CAIR does it all the time.

    The recent testing of our airlines security systems, although it had nothing to do with antisemitism, and claiming innocence because of their "rights" is another example of them (you know who I mean) trying to exploit our tolerant society in order to supplant it with their own.

    Guys, their is an easier way to do it... just go back to your countries with cultures like yours that destroys churches and synagogues and has legalized antisemitism and you will be much happier.
    .

    ReplyDelete