Professor Timothy Jackson Vindicated

The dispute between Professor Philip Ewell and Professor Timothy Jackson has come to a conclusion with a massive out of court settlement in favor of Jackson.

More than four years after suing the University of North Texas for punishing him in a spat over alleged racism in classical music, distinguished research professor Timothy Jackson accepted a $725,000 settlement with the taxpayer-funded school in a legal fight that pitted embattled state Attorney General Ken Paxton against former state Solicitor General Jonathan Mitchell.

The parties filed a joint stipulation of dismissal earlier this month, signed by Paxton's office as counsel to UNT and Mitchell as co-counsel to Jackson. The settlement also gives back Jackson the music theory journal he founded and edited and even reduces his teaching load.

We have certainly discussed this case and these scholars before on the blog. And now, presumably, we are even able to discuss the work of Heinrich Schenker without being banished as supporters of racism!

Update on the Prof. Timothy Jackson/Prof. Philip Ewell controversy

I think my last comment on this, some time ago, was that we should wait to see the results of the legal battles. Well, it seems that a decision has been reached, in favor of Prof. Jackson. Here is a discussion at The New Criterion: Canceling the cancelers. Read the article for the whole sequence of events. But here is the latest:

Jackson did not take the assault lying down. He sued the UNT regents as well as those colleagues who had defamed him. The regents argued that they could not be sued personally because they had “sovereign immunity.” A district court disagreed, handing Jackson a preliminary victory. The regents appealed. But just a few weeks ago, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals found for Jackson on all counts. The decision will have reverberations throughout academia as regents and board members, administrators, and faculty come to realize that defaming people for expressing an opinion with which they disagree can have legal and probably financial consequences.

I'm somewhat surprised that we haven't heard of this ruling already. Nor whether the Journal of Schenkerian Studies will be restored to life.

The Heinrich Schenker Case

Way back in the summer of 2020 Heinrich Schenker was in the news as a result of a dispute between Professor Timothy Jackson, the founder of the Journal of Schenkerian Studies, and his employer, the University of North Texas. The origin of the issue was criticism by Professor Philip Ewell of the "white racial frame" of music theory and specifically racist statements by Heinrich Schenker. The controversy resulted in the closure of the Journal of Schenkerian Studies by the University of North Texas. Prof. Jackson sued the University and the Board of Regents.

But we haven't heard any news for a while and it seemed as if he had lost the case. The latest news is that this is not so. Here is a news release from his lawyers that outlines the legal situation:

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has handed down another defeat to the University of North Texas and a victory to Allen Harris in a lawsuit defending the First Amendment rights of Professor Timothy Jackson, after UNT shut down his journal, The Journal of Schenkerian Studies. The decision can be located here.

In January of last year, Allen Harris had already prevailed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. The District Court Judge Amos Mazzant rejected UNT’s motion to dismiss the complaint of Professor Timothy Jackson in a strong decision available here.

So, the final decision in this case is still far down the road, it seems.