DAVENPORT, Iowa — A judge declared a mistrial Wednesday in the case of a conservative scholar who claims she was passed over for jobs at the University of Iowa law school because of liberal bias.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Shields called the mistrial in the case of Teresa Wagner after jurors reported they remained hopelessly deadlocked after three days of deliberations. Shields told jurors the move means the case will have to be retried or resolved some other way, such as a settlement.
“We’ll fight another day,” Wagner’s lawyer, Stephen Fieweger, said afterward. “This is not over.”
The mistrial came hours after Shields exhorted jurors to try to reach agreement and warned them not to act “as partisans.” Nonetheless, the jury sent a note Wednesday afternoon saying, “I do not see us ever agreeing.”
During a weeklong trial watched closely in higher education, Wagner claimed that the overwhelmingly liberal faculty refused to hire her because she is a Republican who had worked for social conservative groups that oppose abortion rights. She argued that the opposition to her appointment was led by Professor Randall Bezanson who, as a law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, helped draft the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.
Professors testified that, while they were aware of Wagner’s political beliefs, they passed her over for jobs teaching legal analysis and writing because she flunked a job interview in January 2007. A string of professors testified that she botched questions about how she would teach legal analysis, a key component of the job.
But Wagner said that claim was fabricated to excuse the political motivations of the 50-member faculty, which included 46 registered Democrats. She said the faculty did not want an outspoken female opponent of abortion rights to join their ranks.
