The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) co-counsel in Chicago, Loevy & Loevy, filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit (PDF) today against the University of Illinois, accusing it of failing to release emails between administration officials and trustees about the dismissal of Steven Salaita. According to the CCR, “The University initially denied the FOIA request as ‘unduly burdensome,’ and even though the request has been substantially narrowed, the University continues to refuse to comply with the FOIA law and produce the documents that reveal the full story behind its decision to fire Professor Salaita from a tenured position.” The University of Illinois has previously released emails sent by donors and other members of the public, and responses from administrators, but now is refusing to release these additional emails. Needless to say, the fact that the administration sent a lot of internal emails about Salaita’s dismissal is not much of a legal argument for why they should be entitled to keep them secret.

Salaita is on a speaking tour this week in New York and New Jersey, and a report about his case from a faculty committee at the University of Illinois is expected soon.