Two Pritzker professors sued the House Committee on Education and Workforce on Wednesday, demanding it suspend its investigation into their respective law clinics.
In a letter dated March 27, the House committee mandated that Northwestern turn over Pritzker’s policies on legal clinics by noon Thursday, in addition to various records tied to the Bluhm Legal Clinic and the Community Justice and Civil Rights Clinic. The committee also requested all hiring materials and performance reviews for Pritzker Prof. Sheila Bedi, who leads the latter clinic.
Bedi and Pritzker Prof. Lynn Cohn argued in Wednesday’s lawsuit that the House unconstitutionally targeted them for representing clients perceived as “left-wing.” The professors said this investigation fell under a broader political attack on scholars and lawyers.
In their letter, U.S. Reps. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) and Burgess Owens (R-Utah) wrote that the Community Justice and Civil Rights Clinic engaged in “progressive-left political advocacy,” for example by defending pro-Palestinian protesters who blocked traffic into Chicago O’Hare International Airport in April 2024.
The representatives claimed the investigation was necessary due to NU’s “permissiveness and support for antisemitic conduct.” The committee previously released a report in October that scrutinized the University’s negotiations with pro-Palestinian protesters during the April 2024 encampment on Deering Meadow.
Bedi and Cohn rejected the lawmakers’ accusations of antisemitism.
“(It) is plain on the face of the Committee’s demands that it is not trying to investigate antisemitism,” the professors wrote in the lawsuit. “Instead, it is illegally singling out viewpoints and causes that it disagrees with for punishment.”
The lawsuit accused Trump and his congressional allies of targeting political opponents, including by revoking security clearances to law firms that supported criminal prosecutions against the president.
A University spokesperson told The Daily in a statement that NU has “fully cooperated with congressional and other government inquiries” and that it will continue to cooperate with the House committee.
The spokesperson added that Pritzker clinics accept cases that span “the political and legal spectrum” and “do not reflect the views of the University or its law school.”
Multiple letters supporting Bedi and the Community Justice and Civil Rights Clinic have been circulated since late March. One letter received signatures from more than 200 alumni. Another garnered signatures from about 1,000 law professors nationwide.
At Wednesday’s Faculty Senate meeting, a group of faculty, students and alumni delivered a letter supporting Bedi and Bluhm Legal Clinic to Board of Trustees Chair Peter Barris. The flyer called on University administrators and trustees to reject the House committee’s “illegitimate” demand for information.
Pritzker Prof. Judith Rosenbaum said at the meeting that the scrutiny of her colleagues reflected a threat to academic freedom.
“If we don’t stand up in support of academic freedom, if we don’t make a statement that this has got to stop, where will it end?” she said.
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Bluesky: @edwardsimoncruz.bsky.social
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