The Conservative Cave

SEATTLE, Sept. 3, 2026 — The University of Washington paid $600,000 after punishing Professor Stuart Reges for parodying a university-approved “land acknowledgment” in his syllabus.

The payout comes after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held administrators liable under the First Amendment for retaliation and viewpoint discrimination.

Today’s settlement concludes the legal battle that began with a 2022 lawsuit by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression on Reges’s behalf. Besides the monetary settlement, the agreement stipulates that the university cannot take any further action against Reges. While Reges’s appeal was pending, UW also rescinded and replaced the vague antiharassment policy used to punish the professor for his speech.

It has become increasingly common in academia to encourage statements that formally recognize indigenous ties to the land. In December 2021, Reges criticized land acknowledgment statements in an email to faculty, and the next month he parodied UW’s model statement in his syllabus: “I acknowledge that by the labor theory of property the Coast Salish people can claim historical ownership of almost none of the land currently occupied by the University of Washington.” Reges’s statement was a nod to John Locke’s philosophical theory that property rights are established by labor, and a response to the Computer Science department’s recommendation that professors include the UW’s model statement in their syllabi. Reges objected to the political nature of the UW’s model statement and sought to demonstrate that there are competing views on the value of land acknowledgments.

UW was not amused. University officials censored Reges’s parody statement from his syllabus and created a competing class, so students could choose not to take a computer science class from Reges. The university also initiated a nearly year-long investigation of Reges under an “antiharassment” policy.

Just before Christmas last year, the Ninth Circuit delivered a decisive victory for Reges, holding that UW officials violated the First Amendment and directing the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington to enter summary judgment for Reges on his retaliation and viewpoint discrimination claims, and reversing the district court’s dismissal of Reges’s challenges to the antiharassment policy.

He sounds like your average liberal democrat. Nothing radical about him at all. I don't understand what people are getting worked up about. We need to support all democrats in November. None of them are perfect on every issue but at least they are not trying to destroy our democracy.

Surprise: Federal Court Slaps Down Walz Over ICE Agent Extradition

https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2026/08/26/surprise-federal-court-slaps-down-walz-over-ice-agent-extradition-n3818401
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The case does involve serious allegations against Castro, however:


Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz Decided to 'Mess With Texas' — and He Just Lost

https://redstate.com/kyle-becker/2026/08/26/governor-tim-walz-just-messed-with-texas-and-lost-n2206119

ICE agent accused of shooting immigrant, coverup released from jail, following ruling

https://justthenews.com/nation/crime/ice-agent-accused-shooting-immigrant-and-covering-it-released-following-ruling

Walz's minions are claiming that Castro fled MN to escape justice. IRL, Castro had been posted and living in TX, was temporarily deployed to MN, and ICE called Castro back to TX. This ruling has nothing to do with the merits of the case against Castro (which looks weak and/or over-charged), and he may eventually face trial in MN. What got squashed by this court ruling was Walz's anti-ICE theater of claiming Castro was a fugitive from justice.

Well, my my my. ICE agent Christian Castro's reprieve turned out to be more temporary than first thought. And suddenly, a key talking point for Tim Walz and leftist activists has also dissipated.

Castro avoided extradition last week when a federal judge ruled that Greg Abbott did not abuse his discretion in reviewing Walz' request at length, so to speak. At that time, I argued that jurisdiction over Castro's actions in Operation Metro Surge belonged to the Department of Justice and federal courts. Any attempt by Walz, Keith Ellison, and Hennepin County DA Mary Moriarty would almost certainly get pre-empted by a removal motion, I noted.

Castro didn't have time to file that motion, it turns out. A federal grand jury has indicted the ICE agent for lying to federal investigators about the circumstances of the shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis:
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CBS News reports that the grand jury returned a six-count indictment. That may indicate that the DoJ will prosecute for the shooting itself and not just obstruction. The exact charges won't be known until Castro makes his first appearance, and right now, law enforcement is still trying to locate him:

Chunk Yogurt aka Cenk Uygur was loudly defending his crazed commie nephew, Hasan Piker when suddenly Karma struck and he experienced an embarrassing chair malfunction as you can see. However, in order to preserve poor Chunk's dignity we have taken that lemon experience and turned it into lemonade with this highly entertaining rendition of Chunk Yogurt performing Chunk Chair Cha-Cha.