Mark Gruenberg at People’s World reports students and Faculty on University of California (UC) Campuses say it’s not the same anymore. Security Officers are everywhere, stopping people to question them about where they are headed and what’s in their bags. President Donald Trump’s attacks on free speech and academic freedom, they say, are evident everywhere. It’s all part of the Republican Trump regime’s punishment of the 32-Campus University of California System, its 21 Unions and its 100,000 Faculty and Student Workers for their political views - and that’s unconstitutional, a new lawsuit they have filed says. Trump’s assault is taking the form of yanking grant money because - the President alleges, the UC System still promotes “diversity, equity and inclusion,” allows Palestine solidarity protests on campuses, and takes racial composition into account for admissions. So, the Unions, and their Faculty and Student Workers, marched into U.S. District Court in San Francisco on September 16th and demanded their grants back, along with a ban on further financial threats and a court order against billions of dollars in fines Trump threatens to levy against the College System. Six days later, U.S. District Judge Rita Lin granted a preliminary injunction against Trump’s freeze on $500 million in Federal grants to UCLA in particular. The Judge said Trump broke Federal law by suspending the grants via “generalized form letters” without giving specific reasons for each. But Judge Lin’s ruling doesn’t change the basic thrust of the big lawsuit, which is based on Trump’s Constitutional violations. The American Association of University Professors, now an American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Sector, the AFT itself, AFT’s California University Faculty Council, and the pro bono Law Firm Democracy Forward are leading the charge.

To Continue Reading This Labor News Report, Go To: Unions sue Trump to save free speech in California – People's World