Kahn v. Superior Court

Opinion

BRAUER, J.

Petitioner Harold Kahn, a tenured professor of history at Stanford University, seeks an extraordinary writ to prevent the taking of his deposition. He claims a privilege founded on the concept of academic freedom. The principal question before us is this: When a university faculty department meets in private to consider an academic appointment or tenure issue, is the candidate entitled to discover the votes cast, the underlying motivation and the comments made during the meeting? Our answer is no, unless the candidate can demonstrate some compelling state or national interest…