BY JOHN K. WILSON

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled in favor of John McAdams in his case against Marquette University, with the majority writing, “We conclude that the University breached the Contract by suspending Dr. McAdams for exercising his contractually protected right of academic freedom.”

The Court ordered, “we hold the University to its contractual promise to reinstate Dr. McAdams to the faculty of Marquette University with unimpaired rank, tenure, compensation, and benefits.”

The AAUP submitted an Amicus Brief in support of McAdams in this case, and the Court embraced the AAUP’s approach to extramural comments: “the analytical structure described by the AAUP, and adopted by the FHC, provides a stable framework within which to evaluate whether the doctrine of academic freedom protects a specific extramural comment.”

Since I was an expert witness in the McAdams case, I’ll have more to say soon about this case and the Court’s opinion (and the dissenting view).