The House Committee on Education and Workforce dropped a records request for two Northwestern Pritzker School of Law legal clinics Thursday morning, The Hill first reported.
The withdrawal comes less than a day after Pritzker Profs. Sheila Bedi and Lynn Cohn sued the committee Wednesday, seeking an injunction to the records request.
In the professors’ complaint, they argued the committee’s demands violated the U.S. Constitution’s provisions on free speech, due process, right to counsel and equal protection, largely because the committee claimed to be targeting the professors based on political speech.
“The effort is part of the federal government’s ongoing attack on academic freedom, legal professionals, and the rule of law,” the lawsuit reads. “The Committee’s demands exceed its authority and have no valid legislative purpose; they are an attempt to investigate, intimidate, and punish institutions and individuals that the Committee has deemed ‘left-wing.’”
The March 27 letter seeking the relevant records, signed by U.S. Reps. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) — the committee chair — and Burgess Owens (R-Utah), was the latest escalation in the committee’s investigation into NU’s response to alleged antisemitism on campus. The letter accused the University of supporting “antisemitic conduct” and the Community Justice and Civil Rights Clinic of “progressive-left political advocacy.”
It further demanded NU turn over records pertaining to Pritzker’s policies on legal clinics, documents on the Bluhm Legal Clinic and the Community Justice and Civil Rights Clinic, as well as hiring materials and performance reviews for Bedi.
In the Thursday morning emergency court hearing, House General Counsel Matthew Berry announced the committee would not continue to seek those records.
“This win is also a victory for academic freedom, the rule of law, and bedrock constitutional principles,” attorneys representing Bedi and Cohn wrote in a joint news release Thursday. “It demonstrates that educational institutions, academics, and attorneys can collectively stand up for their rights if they work together to combat unlawful government action.”
Email: s.draeger-mazer@dailynorthwestern.com
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