I can’t find an authenticatable source for this, just several blog entries, such as this one and this one. The first link seems to be to a real blog, at least. The second linked blog may be a piece of search engine optimizing astroturf, given its recent date of origination and the fact that other posts there include one entitled “Beijing’s Penis Emporium.” Or maybe not, who knows. Updates to follow as more information surfaces. Will law schools start taking other forms of online harassment more seriously too?
–Ann Bartow
Update: Another blog makes the same report here.
Update 2: Have solid confirmation. Here is the text of the e-mail:
April 25, 2007
To: Boalt Community
From: Dean Christopher Edley, Jr.
It has been a week since the distressing events involving a Boalt
student’s threat :a hoax : against the community at Hastings College of
the Law. I am writing to let you know that all our actions following the
incident have been taken with the intention of securing the safety and
well-being of our community and that at Hastings, while respecting the
procedural rights of the student.
On Wednesday, April 25, 2007, the Law School filed a complaint with the
U.C. Berkeley Judicial Affairs Office against the law student who
claimed responsibility for posting the threat on a website. We, the
administrative leadership of Boalt, believe that the student’s action is
clearly in violation of a number of regulations detailed in the Student
Code of Conduct. The case will be adjudicated by Judicial Affairs
according to campus regulations. Those regulations prohibit us from
disclosing the name of the student against whom we are proceeding.
Based on the facts as we understand them today, we have recommended
expulsion. This is based not only on the intrinsic wrongfulness of the
act itself, but also the disruption, turmoil and emotional toll on the
Hastings community and, to a more limited extent, the Boalt community as
well. I have received ample evidence of this through a great many
emails, some of them painful to read.
This incident has once again confirmed for me the strength and qualities
of the Boalt community. Even in this challenging circumstance, you have
engaged in thoughtful and productive discussions. We should all take
some pride in this, imperfect though we are.
Christopher Edley, Jr.
Professor of Law and Dean
