Law Professor’s Free Speech Win Over Testimony Critique Affirmed

A University of Iowa law professor wasn’t acting under the color of state law when he critiqued another state employee’s expert testimony in an unrelated labor case, the Eighth Circuit affirmed Wednesday.

University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics urologist James Brown argued that University of Iowa College of Law professor Marc Linder acted under the color of state law because he identified himself as a state employee when he criticized him in newspaper articles, relied on the prestige of his position to gain credibility, and used state resources to facilitate free speech retaliation.

“Our case law is clear that a ...