National Roundup

Minnesota
Judge rules professor dismissed over showing Islamic art can proceed with lawsuit
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A former Hamline University adjunct art professor can proceed with her lawsuit against the private Minnesota school but only on the basis of religious discrimination, a federal judge has ruled.

Erika López Prater sued Hamline University earlier this year after she was dismissed following a complaint from a Muslim student that she showed ancient images of the Prophet Muhammad in a global art course last year.

U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez on Friday dismissed several other claims in López Prater’s lawsuit, including those claiming reprisal, defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and retaliation, the Star Tribune of Minneapolis reported. López Prater’s attorney has argued that the school would have treated her differently if she were Muslim.

The judge noted that López Prater’s religious discrimination argument is novel and that it will likely be hard to show that the university would have treated her differently if she were Muslim. Nevertheless, she rejected Hamline University’s request to dismiss the claim entirely.

The controversy began in October when López Prater showed a 14th-century painting depicting the Prophet Muhammad to her students as part of a lesson on Islamic art. She had warned them beforehand in the class syllabus, giving them an opportunity to opt out.
She also reportedly gave a trigger warning before the lesson in which the image was shown. A student who attended the class — who was president of Hamline’s Muslim Student Association — complained to the university, saying the trigger warning didn’t define what image would be shown. In Islam, portraying the Prophet Muhammad has long been taboo for many.

The university later decided not to renew López Prater’s contract.

The fallout was far-reaching, leading the school’s faculty to overwhelmingly call for university President Fayneese Miller to resign. Miller announced in April that she will retire next year. That announcement came three months after she conceded that she mishandled the situation, particularly in calling López Prater’s showing of the image “Islamophobic.”

An attorney for the university, Mark Berhow, said he and the school’s legal team are encouraged by the judge’s decision to dismiss most claims and “look forward to demonstrating that the sole remaining claim is also without merit.”

Oregon
State’s AG says she won’t seek reelection next year after serving 3 terms
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, a Democrat and the first woman to serve in the post, announced on Tuesday that she will not seek reelection after serving for three terms.

Rosenblum, 72, said she would step aside to allow “new leadership, new energy, and new initiatives” to come to the Oregon Department of Justice that she has headed since 2012.

“I deeply appreciate the faith Oregonians have placed in me these past eleven years,” Rosenblum said in a statement. “At the same time, a job like this belongs to the people of Oregon — not to any one individual.”

Oregon Public Broadcasting reported earlier Tuesday that Rosenblum had quietly made it known that she won’t be running in the primary and general election next year.

During her tenure, Rosenblum repeatedly signed onto lawsuits against then President Donald Trump’s administration over federal policies impacting voting, abortion and immigration, OPB noted.

A former federal prosecutor and state trial and appellate judge, Rosenblum was first elected to a four-year term as Oregon’s 17th Attorney General in 2012.


Utah
Therapist charged with child abuse not to see patients until allegations are addressed
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah mental health counselor charged for her alleged role in denying food to two children and physically and emotionally abusing them has agreed not to see patients until the allegations are addressed by state licensing officials, officials said Tuesday.

Jodi Hildebrandt and her business partner Ruby Franke — a mother of six who gave parenting advice via a once-popular YouTube channel called “8 Passengers” — each face six felony counts of aggravated child abuse for injuries suffered by two of Franke’s children.

Hildebrandt signed a stipulation limiting her license to practice on Sunday, and the director of the Division of Professional Licensing signed it Tuesday.

“Given the heinous abuse allegations, the agency felt that the surrender of the license was the best course of action to protect the safety of Hildebrandt’s patients and clients,” Margaret Busse, executive director of the Utah Department of Commerce, said in a statement.

The stipulation says Hildebrandt’s license to practice is limited until the allegations have been resolved either through a disciplinary agreement with the state’s Commercial Enforcement Division or after a hearing before the Clinical Mental Health Counselor Licensing Board.

Prosecutors say Franke, 41, and Hildebrandt, 54, either caused or allowed someone to torture Franke’s 12-year-old son and injure her 10-year-old daughter. Both children were allegedly starved and harmed emotionally. They and two other of Franke’s children were taken into the custody of child protective services.

The boy escaped from Hildebrandt’s house Aug. 30 and ran to a neighbor’s home, where he said he was hungry and thirsty, according to an affidavit filed by an officer with the Santa Clara-Ivins Public Safety Department.

The neighbor saw duct tape on the boy’s ankles and wrists, along with injuries, according to a 911 call.

Hildebrandt and Franke remain jailed without bail and have not entered pleas. Their attorneys — Douglas Terry for Hildebrandt and LaMar Winward for Franke — were said to be unavailable to comment Tuesday.

A hearing that had been scheduled for Monday was postponed, and court officials said afterword that the next hearing in the case is not expected until after Oct. 5.

The state has made no finding of unprofessional or unlawful conduct against Hildebrandt and has not taken any disciplinary action against her license, which remains active, the Commerce Department said. Hildebrandt’s business is called ConneXions.