Posted on 03/21/2014 5:48:21 PM PDT by jazusamo
Full title: University of California-Santa Barbara feminist professor charged in confrontation with pro-life teen
A feminist studies professor at a California state university is facing criminal charges after a videotaped run-in with a teenage pro-life demonstrator in which she snatched an anti-abortion sign and appeared to get physical with the girl.
University of California at Santa Barbara Associate Professor Mireille Miller-Young was charged with one misdemeanor count each of theft, battery and vandalism in the March 4 incident, Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley announced Friday. The charges came days after 16-year-old Thrin Short and her parents met with prosecutors.
Thrin told authorities what she told FoxNews.com earlier this month: She, her older sister Joan, 21, and some other pro-life activists were holding signs and demonstrating in a free speech zone on the bucolic campus March 4 when Miller-Young, who also teaches courses on pornography, went berserk.
The sisters say they distributed nearly 1,000 informational pamphlets during the event, which was organized by the Riverside-based nonprofit Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust. Things took an unexpected turn when, according to Short, Miller-Young approached the demonstrators and a group of students who had gathered.
“Before she grabbed the sign, she was mocking me and talking over me in front of the students, saying that she was twice as old as me and had three degrees, so they should listen to her and not me,” Thrin Short wrote in an email to FoxNews.com. “Then she started the chant with the students about ‘tear down the sign.’ When that died out, she grabbed the sign.”
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Nice article. Bravo, Professor Volokh. And the UCSB “professor” seems to have a very cloudy concept of what “rights” she has, and what free speech entails under our Constitution.
In fact, most “progressives” are big, very big, on “rights” for themselves, but can’t seem to conceive of anyone outside of their little circle having rights as well.
You nailed it!
So in the described situation where the professor taunted the girl and wrestled her for the sign, injuring her in the process, it would take a “generous” prosecutor not to include the charge of assault? I believe there’s an angle here not being discussed.
What a disgusting person and occupation.
No, the battery charge [no pun intended] might encompass assault. There is a concept in criminal law called “lesser included offense”, which means that if you are charged with “murder one”, they do not have to separately charge you with manslaughter, to find you guilty of it.
I would not read anything into the lack of an assault charge.
Also keep in mind you are reading news reports and the reporters often get things wrong.
You would have to go look at the court file to see what actual charges were brought, all of which would reference a penal code section.
The below post from some lawyer type website says that assault IS a lesser included offense in California, if the battery has been completed [in this case it was]. It defines assault as an attempted battery, which is different from the “civil tort” definition of putting someone in fear of harmful touching, so my scenario of sneaking up behind someone does not apply.
From the website. Note the reference to penal code sections. You can look them up on http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.html:
According to Newport Beach criminal attorney John Murray8, “people often use the terms ‘assault’ and ‘battery’ interchangeably, or to refer to the same offense.” However, assault (defined under California Penal Code 240) and battery (Penal Code 242) are actually two separate crimes.
A Penal Code 242 pc battery (defined above) requires some type of violent, painful, or offensive physical contact.
A California Penal Code 240 assault, on the other hand, may be filed when an attempt to injure another is made. No physical contact is actually necessary to be convicted of assault.9
A California assault can take place even though no battery occurs. However, a battery necessarily includes an assault. This is because it is impossible to commit a battery (a willful act) without first attempting to do so.
An assault is often called an “attempted battery,” while battery is often called a “completed assault”. Let’s look at some examples to better illustrate the point.
Here’s a theory about why this position in Women’s Studies even exists. They need to fulfil several quotas: women oriented, black oriented, sexual diversity, and anti-traditional. If they can have someone that has a background of having taken advantage of affirmative action and is a loose canon, then they have the whole blasphemous package.
Thank-you for your response.
It’s not required under California criminal law. Assault is California Penal Code 240; Battery is California Penal Code 242.
Professor Volokh deserves much praise for telling this like it is and like you say, the powers that be at WaPo are probably not happy.
Thanks much for the links!
That graphic fits that porn associate prof perfectly.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.