Northwestern University to David Protess: "We're Done With You"
The Chicago Tribune is reporting that David Protess, "whose Medill Innocence Project has been the pride of the prestigious journalism school" - has been asked to stop teaching classes in light of the misconduct that has occurred in the Anthony McKinney case. As the Tribune explained: "At the center of the dispute are memos written by students during their investigation of the McKinney prosecution —documents Protess turned over to McKinney's lawyers at Northwestern Law School's Center on Wrongful Convictions so they could try to win his freedom. Led by Protess to believe that only limited information had been shared, university officials said, they spent almost a year and hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal expenses fighting prosecutors' bid for all the student records. But now Northwestern officials question whether Protess was forthcoming about what he turned over to McKinney's lawyers. That information was crucial because those materials should also have been given to prosecutors. In addition, a private lawyer hired by Northwestern to lead the court fight with prosecutors abruptly quit representing Protess in the matter last fall, accusing the professor of giving him inaccurate information about what student records had been turned over to McKinney's lawyers, according to documents recently obtained by the Tribune."
Finally, Northwestern was straight with Protess: "We believe that you have displayed a lack of candor with us and have not cooperated with us," lawyer Richard O'Brien wrote Protess shortly before he withdrew from representing him, according to a copy of the e-mail.
We need more candor from Protess about what happened in McKinney's case and what exactly is happening at Medill. Northwestern's actions at this point are good, but long overdue. In October and November of 2009, when the story broke, I called for Northwestern to take the State's Attorney's allegations seriously and work to clear the name of Medill and its students. Nothing happened. I was then invited by WNUR (Northwestern's Radio Station) in December 2009 to a panel discussion with Northwestern professors, where I told them in person that the university should be investigating these allegations. The professors dismissed my call for an investigation and were adamant that Protess should fight the subpoenas. A year later, its pretty clear that Protess is still hiding things and he is now being told to step down because of his actions.
Keep up the pressure Northwestern - this will only help the integrity of the university.
