Cruz Molina’s Judicial Review Canceled at Last Minute by UCSC

On March 13th, UC Santa Cruz canceled their judicial review hearing against Cruz Molina just before it was set to begin, off-campus, at the UCSC Inn. Cruz and David Benterou are UCSC freshman targeted for allegedly having the tree-sitters as their "guests" on the morning of November 7th, 2007. Supporters of Cruz and David organized a "Student Justice Teach-In" on March 6th. They assert that UCSC is trying to scapegoat Cruz and David by holding them responsible for all past, present and future actions of the tree-sit on Science Hill.

Students and other community members arrived at the UCSC Inn to discover that demonstrations are not allowed there because it is private property and that Cruz's hearing was canceled. No official explanation was given for the cancellation, though some people asserted that Doug Zuidema, UCSC's Director of Judicial Affairs, wanted to hear Cruz's version of the events before holding a hearing. The announced demonstration and media exposure of UCSC's off-campus, behind closed doors, judicial review process may have influenced them more than a last minute altruistic decision to inquire about Cruz's version of events.

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Crossposted at Indybay.org.