Four groups have filed a legal brief in support of the University of Virginia’s challenge to Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II’s request for documents in a fraud investigation of a prominent climate researcher, Michael E. Mann, a former UVa professor. The American Association of University Professors, the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, and the Union of Concerned Scientists argue in the brief that Mr. Cuccinelli’s request violates the professor’s and the university’s rights to academic freedom. In the brief, the groups also question Mr. Cuccinelli’s grounds for the investigation. Scientific and academic bodies have cleared Mr. Mann of allegations of scholarly misconduct, they say.
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” Scientific and academic bodies have cleared Mr. Mann of allegations of scholarly misconduct…” Let me make sure I’ve got this right. The same bodies that participate in the same type work as Professor Mann says so…so therefore it must be so. Too much waste, fraud and abuse of federal and state funds have been going on too long within the higher education ranks by far too many (not all, of course) that do nothing but boondoggle the funds so they could opt out of actual classroom teaching in favor of the sometimes murky pecking order world of “I’m a government funded researcher.” I hope the Virginia AG continues the probe. He might well be onto something here.