Used U. Resources to Lobby Against Bush Nominee

by Christopher Chow

Did Dr. Florence Roisman, a law professor at Indiana University's School of Law in Indianapolis, violate Federal Election Commission (FEC) laws, the IRS code, and University policy by using her position within the University to urge students to contact United States Senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee and demand that they vote against Judge Charles Pickering's appointment to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals?

Roisman is alleged to have utilized the school's e-mail server to spam the entire student body and faculty, urging them to lobby U.S. senators to vote against a judicial nominee.

Professor Roisman, a former employee at the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission now teaches "Housing Discrimination and Segregation" and "Homelessness and the Law." Her anti-Pickering e-mail contained the Senate Judiciary Committee members' contact information and included a denunciation of Judge Pickering by the Society of American Law Teachers (SALT).

The letter stated, "after careful review of Judge Pickering's record, the Society of American Law Teachers (SALT) urges the Senate Judiciary Committee to reject his nomination the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit." The e-mail also urged students to, "exercise your right to be heard!"

SALT was founded in 1972 by members of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in New York, including Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Alan Dershowitz, to organize law professors to "champion liberal causes." SALT boasts a membership of over eight hundred law professors across the country. Through their publication, The Equalizer, they have been outspoken advocates of affirmative action and critics of the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) and U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan.

The anti-Pickering e-mail was first sent to Roisman by former SALT president Carol Chomsky. Chomsky is a law professor at the University of Minnesota Law School at Twin Cities and now heads SALT's Technology and Communications Committee.

Professor Roisman's use of school resources to encourage partisan political activity may have violated FEC regulations on tax-exempt universities by using state funded resources for political campaigning. In April 1999 the FEC ruled that tax-exempt organizations could use the internet for political debates and post information about a candidate, but could not endorse any candidate.

The FEC clarified in Advisory Opinion 1999-7 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, U.S. Code, Title 26 Section 501(A)(3). "Corporations, and community chest, fund, or foundation, organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, testing for public safety, literary, or educational purposes, or to foster national or international amateur sports competition (but only if no part of its activities involve the provision of athletic facilities or equipment), or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals, no part of the net earnings of which insures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual, no substantial part of the activities of which is carrying on propaganda, or otherwise attempting, to influence legislation (except as otherwise provided in subsection (h)), and which does not participate in or, intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office."

This legislation was passed to prevent federal or state funds to be used for political campaigning by non-profit groups. Universities that receive state funding such as Indiana University, are strictly prohibited from endorsing or opposing candidates, ballot initiatives, and legislation.

Roisman's actions may also conflict with the "Policy on Uses of Indiana University Information Technology Resources." "Taxpayers, students, and other sources of funding supporting technology resources at Indiana University expect that these assets will only be used in support of the University's missions of research, instruction and learning, and community service," states the policy. "Unless otherwise specified in this policy, use of Indiana University technology resources is restricted to purposes related to the university's mission of education, research, and public service."

When reached for comment, Dr. Roisman told Campus Report that she did not wish to discuss the matter.

The call to action e-mail was particularly critical of Judge Pickering's political views in his home state of Mississippi, a record Dr. Roisman found to be in opposition to civil rights. It cited Pickering's denial of a new trial for Howard Monteville Neal, who raped and murdered his thirteen-year-old niece. SALT also cited a 1958 statement of his on interracial marriage. "In addition, he then suggested a statutory amendment that would allow the Mississippi state courts to enforce the state's prohibition on interracial marriages." Pickering has since stated that he regrets his comments of forty-four years ago.

Pickering's appointment to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals was recently denied by the Senate Judiciary Committee on a party line vote of ten to nine. This effectively ended any vote on the Senate floor which likely would have favored him. This was a sharp change from his unanimous appointment by the Senate in 1990 to his current position on the U.S. District Court. Liberal critics of the Bush nominee accused Pickering of racism and of having a poor record on civil rights. "[Pickering] failed to meet the kind of criteria in his core commitment to the fundamental values of our Constitution," commented Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), one of Pickering's most outspoken critics.

To date, President Bush has nominated twenty-nine circuit court judges and only seven have been confirmed. In the same time, the Senate approved nineteen of Bill Clinton's twenty-two appointees. Political analysts contend that Democrats are using the Pickering nomination as a warning to the President not to appoint conservative Supreme Court justices.

Dr. Roisman's use of university resources for political activities has raised ethical questions about Indiana University's non-profit status and state funding. A university's tax-exempt non-profit status forbids it from using funds or resources to endorse candidates for public office.

Jonna Kane, assistant dean for external affairs at Indiana University's School of Law in Indianapolis, told Campus Report the University was unaware of Dr. Roisman's campaign to block Pickering's appointment. The law school's head dean, Norman Lefstein, is now reviewing the incident and says that if the professor's action does violate any law, or the University's policy, he will "determine further action."