U. of Ky Prof Guilty of Sexual Misconduct Over Beach Boys Tune

WASHINGTON - Dec. 17, 2016 - PRLog -- A professor at the University of Kentucky [UK] has been found guilty, without any hearing or other proceeding, and with no complaint ever having been filed, of "sexual misconduct" for singing the Beach Boys tune "California Girls."

        His punishment was a ban on receiving international travel funds, and the loss of a prestigious award worth thousands of dollars.

        Ironically, he is employed by the University's Scripps Howard First Amendment Center, which totally misinterpreted and misrepresented the U.S. Constitution in penalizing him, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf, who has won a number of precedent-setting constitutional cases.

        In this bizarre action involving Buck Ryan. the UK's Title IX coordinator ruled, without even talking to Ryan, that the song "California Girls" included "language of a sexual nature," and was somehow offensive, even though no complaint had even been filed.

         Ryan was not able to receive a copy of the ruling, nor to defend himself in any way.

        When he complained that his rights to due process at a state institution had been violated, he was told: "There is no constitutional right to represent the University of Kentucky abroad. Nor is there a constitutional right to teach a particular class. Accordingly, the University has no obligation to provide you with due process."

        But that's completely wrong, and any university - particularly one with a First Amendment Center, and a College of Law - should know it, says Banzhaf.

        A state university is required by the Constitution to provide a person with his due process rights, in the form of a wide variety of procedural protections in an evidentiary hearing, before he can be deprived of property, or, in addition, what the courts have called a "liberty interest."

        Both the Fifth Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment provide that no person shall be "deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law."

         Court have repeatedly held that even small amounts of money, or inexpensive personal items, constitutes "property," even though the Constitution does not grant anyone a constitutional right to have money or personal items, nor obligate anyone to provide it, says Banzhaf.  Certainly an award worth several thousands of dollars qualifies as "property" entitled to due process protection.

        Moreover, courts have held that the right to practice a chosen profession - and the incidents which go with it, including professional travel - constitute a liberty interest which is likewise protected.

        I hope Ryan "sues the bastards," says Banzhaf, quoting his trademarked phrase.

JOHN F. BANZHAF III, B.S.E.E., J.D., Sc.D.
Professor of Public Interest Law
George Washington University Law School,
FAMRI Dr. William Cahan Distinguished Professor,
Fellow, World Technology Network,
Founder, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
2000 H Street, NW, Wash, DC 20052, USA
(202) 994-7229 // (703) 527-8418
http://banzhaf.net/  jbanzhafATgmail.com  @profbanzhaf