Law School Defends Student Who Allegedly Made ‘Abhorrent’ Racist Remarks On Social Media

Sometimes, law schools fail to handle situations involving sensitive race-related issues in a satisfactory manner. Take, for example, the situation that’s unfolding — or some might say, unraveling — at Columbia Law School in the wake of the grand jury decisions in the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases. Students are incensed that the school did too little, too late, in terms of helping those who were emotionally traumatized by the outcomes of the legal proceedings.

Other times, law schools handle race-related issues with kid gloves, without giving them the thorough investigation that they’re due before going public with their stance. This is exactly what happened last week at Barry Law School after racist remarks were allegedly made from law student Daniella Pedrozo’s Instagram account on an African-American blogger Karen Civil’s post having to do with the Garner and Brown decisions.

This seems to be a sad case of “a law student who doesn’t understand social media is forever,” according to our tipsters, but that’s not where this story ends. Thanks to the wonders of the internet, people quickly found out where Pedrozo lived, where she worked, and where she went to law school, and started making phone calls and social media posts on the relevant business pages to make everyone aware of Pedrozo’s alleged commentary. Even the ABA was made aware of Pedrozo’s supposed behavior.

Pedrozo later claimed her phone had been stolen and that the racist rhetoric was posted not by her, but by the thief who was able to “hack” her Instagram account because her phone wasn’t password-protected. All hell broke loose, and Barry Law quickly rushed to Pedrozo’s defense, even after Pedrozo — or the person pretending to be her — claimed on Instagram that she “[didn’t] attend barry lmao.”

Here’s a message from Dean Leticia M. Diaz that was posted on Barry Law’s Facebook page on Friday morning about Pedrozo’s Instagram incident:

On Thursday, December 4, several inflammatory and offensive posts were made on Instagram using an account owned by a Barry Law student. These comments were not made by the student. The student lost her cell phone on Thursday. The phone was not password-protected, and the comments in question were apparently posted by the person who took the phone. As soon as the student became aware of the situation, she took all appropriate measures, contacting Instagram and her mobile service provider, as well as filing police reports with the Coral Gables and City of Miami police departments.

As dean of Barry University School of Law, I want to make clear that Barry University does not condone and does not tolerate any discriminatory remarks or behavior. We condemn them in the strongest terms. The University is committed to providing a work and learning environment that is free of discrimination, harassment and other prohibited conduct.

The key phrase in Dean Diaz’s message seems to be “[a]s soon as,” because that timeline raises the possibility that Pedrozo may have been telling a tall tale about her “stolen” phone and “hacked” Instagram account. Dean Diaz may want to revise her statement to say, “As soon as the student realized she was in deep sh*t, she apparently made up all sorts of fabrications. She’ll be a great lawyer!” Here’s more info:

A spokeswoman with Coral Gables PD confirmed that Pedrozo filed a simple harassment complaint.

But she did it at 11:30 a.m. [on Friday], more than 12 hours after the exchange with Civil.

In the complaint, Pedrozo claims she lost her phone on a bus at Miami International Airport [Thursday] night and someone, not her, used it to post on Instagram.

The complaint states she’s received hundreds of Instagram messages since, including some threatening to hold protest in front of her house and the Barry campus in Miami Shores.

One might wonder: who waits more than 12 hours to take action on a stolen phone? Further to that point, who waits until they’ve received hundreds of angry messages and threats over racist comments written by an alleged “hacker” to go to the police? This is kind of like that time I never reported that someone impersonated me and then failed the bar exam.

Here’s a message that Dean Diaz posted to Barry Law’s Facebook page later Friday afternoon after an outcry from the public and members of the law school’s alumni:

I have heard from many members of our Barry Law family and others about the statement I released this morning. I want to assure you that we are continuing to investigate this matter, fully.

Let me be clear: We find the comments addressed to Karen Civil abhorrent and such behavior will not be tolerated at Barry University School of Law. We stand true to our mission and are against all discriminatory behavior.

Again, we are continuing to investigate this matter and will keep you updated as developments warrant.

It’s curious that Dean Diaz didn’t mention that Barry Law was investigating Pedrozo’s case until after hundreds of comments were left on the school’s Facebook page condemning the administration’s unseemly inaction on the matter. Barry Law School may have learned an important lesson here: while it’s admirable to immediately jump to a student’s defense, all facts need to be in hand before doing so to prevent another public relations nightmare.

As to Daniella Pedrozo, maybe she really is telling the truth — maybe her phone was actually stolen. Perhaps there’s a thief out there who took the time to recognize that she was a law student riding on a horse so high that she deigned to refer to herself as a lawyer. “As a lawyer,” Pedrozo knows that she’s innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, but as judged by a jury of her peers in the incredibly harsh courtroom of the public eye, she’s already been sentenced and condemned as a racist.

We suspect she’s not laughing her ass off anymore.

At Barry law school, a tempest over an Instagram post [Miami Herald]
EXCLUSIVE — Racial Controversy Ensnares Barry University: Law Student Lobs N-Word at Prominent Black Blogger! [Gossip Extra]