Judge Refuses Recusal Request Over Columbia Boycott Letter

Sept. 13, 2024, 8:44 PM UTC

A federal trial judge in North Dakota has rejected a request that he step back from a lawsuit over protests against the Dakota Access pipeline, after he signed a letter saying he won’t hire law clerks from Columbia University over the institution’s handling of pro-Gaza protests on its campus.

US District Judge Daniel Traynor on Friday quickly rebuffed a motion seeking his disqualification, as current and former Columbia Law School faculty are representing the plaintiffs in that lawsuit.

It appears to be one of the first times that a judge who signed the Columbia letter last May has been asked ...

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