One of the most blatant incidents of academic bigotry is going to end up in civil court and potentially cost the University of California, Santa Barbara and Assistant Professor Mireille Miller-Young a lot of money. You may recall that the good professor, enraged by the appearance of pro-life demonstrators in a designated free-speech zone on her campus, assaulted a 16-year-old pro-life demonstrator, whose lawful demonstration offended the professor. Professor Miller-Young was convicted of various misdemeanors and sentenced to probation and “anger management.”

Outrageously, a senior administrator at UCSB defended the professor:

When the university finally opened up after several weeks of silence on the matter, the administration did not condemn the unnecessary and spiteful attack by a member of its faculty. Instead, it attacked the “anti-abortion crusaders” and “evangelical types” who came to campus “to provoke us, to taunt us and attempt to turn us against one another.”

Michael D. Young, vice chancellor for student affairs, on Wednesday sent a campus-wide e-mail regarding “Student Free Speech at UCSB.” Young decried those “who peddle hate and intolerance with less-than-noble aims” while failing to mention the professor who attacked a peaceful demonstrator.

In the e-mail, obtained by National Review Online, Young informed students that Miller-Young’s underage victim is simply a member of  “the most recent generation of true believers, self-proclaimed prophets, and provocateurs.” Young wrote that students came to him saying they felt “outrage, pain, embarrassment, fear, hurt, and feelings of harassment” because of the demonstrators.

However, the vice chancellor ultimately provided a backhanded defense of the demonstrators’ right to be on campus (within a designated free-speech zone). He wrote that “our Founding Fathers — all white men of privilege, some even slave owners — got it right when designing the First Amendment of the Constitution.”

Now, the assault itself and its defense by the university will be adjudicated in a lawsuit. CNS News reports:

The Life Legal Defense Foundation (LLDF) filed acivil suit Thursday against the University of California and Professor Mireille Miller-Young seeking “compensation for physical battery, property theft and civil rights violations” following an on-campus altercation in March with pro-life demonstrators.

(See Shorts v Miller-Young.pdf) (snip)

“This is a mature, supposedly educated woman charged by the University of California to convey knowledge, and instead she conveyed discrimination and intolerance. Not only was she out of line in attacking students, but she literally drew blood from a minor,” said Dana Cody, LLDF’s president and executive director.

A variety of comical defenses for Miller-Young’s actions were offered, including the notion that the “legacy of slavery” was in part responsible for her act.

Miller-Young has never apologized. It will be interesting to see how a California jury reacts. There is video tape of the assault.