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Sunday, June 11, 2023

The (Hastings) Empire Strikes Back

Hastings

From Reuters: Descendants of Serranus Hastings suing over the name change of the former University of California Hastings College of the Law cleared a hurdle on Monday when a California appeals court tossed a bid brought by school officials who tried to block the lawsuit. The California appeals court affirmed the dismissal of a motion brought by law school officials who are seeking to end litigation over the school’s name. Their anti-SLAPP motion argued that the name change was a protected public activity.

The decision by the California Court of Appeal for the First District in San Francisco allows the case to proceed at the trial court level.

John DiPaolo, general counsel for the school now named University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, said that school officials remain confident that they have "full legal rights" to remove the Hastings name. The school had been known as the University of California Hastings College of the Law since its 1878 founding until earlier this year when it was renamed. State lawmakers passed a bill in 2022 to change the name at the request of the law school after officials spent years weighing the legacy of namesake Serranus Hastings.

Hastings was a California Supreme Court justice whose financial support established the law school. But historians have said he also orchestrated killings of Native Americans in order to remove them from ranch land he purchased in Northern California...

Full story at https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/former-hastings-law-school-loses-appeal-block-suit-over-name-change-2023-06-06/.

If you haven't followed this tale, you can find references using the search option on this blog and putting in "Hastings." Or just go to:

http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-more-complete-explanation-of-hastings.html.

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