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Attorney of fired SU law professor says federal judge made a mistake dismissing lawsuit

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BATON ROUGE- Federal Judge Shelly Dick dismissed a lawsuit filed by Dorothy Jackson against Southern University, causing Jackson's attorneys to appeal the decision with at least one saying the judge made a mistake.

"If judges were always right we would not need appellate courts," one of Jackson's attorneys, Joel Porter said. "We will see what the Fifth Circuit says about this."

Wednesday her legal team appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

Jackson was terminated from Southern University after she wrote a will for a client at the East Baton Rouge Council on Aging. The will would have benefited Tasha Clark-Amar, the executive director, nearly $100,000. However, all sides broke away from the will when the WBRZ Investigative Unit exposed it two years ago.

Helen Plummer was a client at the East Baton Rouge Council on Aging when she was driven to Southern's Elder Law Clinic to have a will drafted. Jackson was not only a professor at Southern, but also a board member at the Council on Aging.

Last year we asked whether she was comfortable sitting on the COA Board still with everything that was going on.

"Am I comfortable? Of course," Jackson replied.

Jackson tried to keep her job as a tenured professor at the Southern Law Center. However, she was terminated by Dr. Ray Belton. Her termination was upheld by the Southern Board of Supervisors. Jackson sued, claiming her due process rights were violated.

Her attorneys claim she has faced no bar sanctions, ethics charges or criminal charges as a result of her writing the will.

"Ms. Jackson's life was destroyed only because she was trying to fulfill the last wishes of a dying woman," Porter said. "For that, she was crucified. She lost her job and has been crucified." 

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