We previously blogged the case of Montana law prof Robert G. Natelson, a self-described conservative who claimed he had been denied the opportunity to teach con law solely because of his political views (see here and here). News reports today say that he has prevailed in his quest to teach con law:
Law School Dean Ed Eck and UM President George Dennison handed Natelson the decision after considering a recent report by the three-person committee charged with assessing Natelson’s suitability to teach the course. One member of the committee, Bozeman attorney James H. Goetz, dissented from the committee’s final report. But UM officials agreed with the findings of James Weinstein of Arizona State University and Robert F. Nagel of the University of Colorado, each of whom holds an endowed chair in constitutional law at their respective universities.
Natelson is fully qualified for the job, the two academics concluded. In their final report, they wrote: "We are able to make this judgment with confidence. It is based on an evaluation that in its scope and thoroughness might well be unprecedented for any decision about a teaching assignment in the history of the American legal academy." Goetz argued the Law School should conduct a national search for a constitutional law professor and invite Natelson to apply.
The opinions were crafted after the committee reviewed Natelson’s teaching abilities during spring semester 2005, conducted interviews with students, considered student evaluation forms that directly addressed Natelson’s teaching abilities and examined Natelson’s community service record and his published work.
Natelson was granted the opportunity to prove his skills and teach the course last spring after he won a grievance hearing filed against UM last summer. Natelson had been denied the teaching assignment four different times and claimed he was the victim of political discrimination and unfair hiring practices.
After a two-day, 15-hour hearing, the grievance officer didn’t address the political discrimination complaint, but did determine Natelson was treated unfairly at the Law School. Dennison subsequently agreed to let Natelson teach the course, providing an independent evaluation committee would review his teaching performance and decide if he was fit to teach the course on a more permanent basis.
In their conclusion, Weinstein and Nagel wrote: "After due consideration of all the material presented to us, and with particular regard to Professor Natelson’s performance in teaching Constitutional Law this semester, we conclude that Professor Natelson is both competent and fully qualified to continue to teach Constitutional Law. In light of of this finding, we recommend that he be assigned the Constitutional Law course."
(Hat tip: En Passant.)
