U.Va. cleared in honor lawsuit

A federal judge has thrown out a former student's $1.05 million lawsuit against the University stemming from his 1997 expulsion after being convicted of cheating on an economics exam. In his suit, Jonathan Cobb, who is black, claimed that the Honor System discriminated against minority students; that his rights to due process were violated by a seven-month delay in assigning him an honor adviser; and that he was defamed in a letter written by Vice President for Student Affairs William H. Harmon. In refusing to allow the case to go to trial, federal district court judge Norman K. Moon, who in July had dismissed five other claims in Cobb's original suit, ruled that a racial-bias argument based upon statistics alone does not prove discrimination in a specific instance. The delay in appointing an adviser did not violate the honor bylaws at the time of Cobb's accusation and trial, Moon found, and Harmon's letter -- though it contained an inaccurate statement -- was sent only to immediately involved parties and thus did not constitute the "publication" required to prove defamation. Moon also dismissed the claims of Cobb's parents, Darryl and Annette Cobb, because they lacked the standing to join in the suit on behalf of their son, who was of legal age.