"If O.J. Simpson could find a sympathetic jury, who's to say Ward Churchill won't? All he did is murder scholarship, and in this day and age even some academics don't take that crime too seriously.

Why should we expect a random group of citizen jurors to care more about academic integrity?

Maybe my pessimism is misplaced. Maybe the University of Colorado will mount an eloquent case during the next three weeks in federal court. Maybe it will persuade the jury hearing Churchill's lawsuit to reject the professor's grotesque attempt to return to his job of inventing historical events and indoctrinating students.

But Churchill has slipped through legal nets before. He's been acquitted more than once, for example, of trying to disrupt Denver's Columbus Day parade even though he was clearly guilty of doing just that.

It's depressing enough that a fraud like Churchill has a chance of prevailing against the facts. Even more demoralizing is the evidence that many of his colleagues won't care if he does — or would actually applaud such an outcome."

Get the Story:
Vincent Carroll: A refresher course on Churchill sins (The Denver Post 3/11) (The Denver Post 3/11)

More Stories:
Mike Littwin: Churchill's case should convict CU (The Denver Post 3/11)
Churchill was thrown to mob, attorney says (The Denver Post 3/11)
Churchill the victim of a "howling mob," lawyer says (The Denver Post 3/10)
Churchill: Jury to have last word on suit (The Denver Post 3/9)