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Comment by strangeloops85 | Hacker News Reader

Really outrageous extortion. UCLA and UC as a whole are running budget deficits and facing reduced state support (as well as the grant cancelations). There's simply no money for this and the white house knows it.

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> There's simply no money for this

Being broke has never been an excuse to not pay fines.

(I make no judgement on the actual claims, the courts exist for that)

There is no legal basis for the fine.

That is an entirely different argument, not the one I was responding to

When you are ignorant about the world, it becomes a very confusing place.

https://x.com/JohnDSailer/status/1907794415436873742?t=Zw9FF...

There are dozens of examples of UCLA violating federal civil rights laws. You just decided to pretend they don't exist.

That is not relevant to what I am saying at all. I am saying that there is no legal basis for demanding 1 Billion dollars in as that is 1) a made up number from Trump's head, 2) UCLA is innocent until proven guilty, 3) withholding Federal grants duly awarded violates impoundment.

That's why it's a settlement offer, not a judgement. If they think they're innocent, they can go through discovery and go to trial.

But for the same reason Columbia settled: they know they broke the law. They used protected characteristics in hiring decisions.

And the suspension of grants? And is settlement offers even legal in this context?

The suspension of grants is not the DOJ. It is the DOE for violations of Title 9.

How is the suspension of a research grant even related to a violation of title 9? It's bullshit, and everyone knows it, because it is actually extortionistic bullshit.

Then why is the resumption of those grants tied to it?

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