Lawyer lets it fly while regents deliberate

Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News

Published July 24, 2007 at midnight

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BOULDER — Ward Churchill's lawyer, David Lane, said he will begin legal action against the CU Board of Regents in Denver District Court tomorrow morning.

Lane said he assumes the CU professor will be fired when the regents convene in public session at 4 p.m. today.

The nine-member board began deliberating on the case shortly after 1 p.m. today.

"Ward Churchill's body will be dragged out of here at 4 o'clock and displayed by the regents to satisfy the baying of the right-wing members of the media — maybe get them off CU's back," Lane said.

Lane and Churchill participated in the closed session where they argued against the professor's dismissal. Lane said he warned the regents that they will be viewed as infringing on free speech if they fire Churchill.

Lane said he asked the regents, "Do you want to put out that kind of chill to the nation as a whole?"

Lane said he will sue in Denver District Court, rather than federal court, because he can get a trial sooner.

But he also said a Denver jury is more likely to be sympathetic than a federal jury, which would include "a lot of small-town people who are not enamored of Churchill."

Lane said he will try to show that the charges of plagiarism are really a pretext for retaliation against Churchill for his political views.

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