Submitted February 12, 2014
Appeal from United States District Court for the District of Minnesota - Minneapolis.
For Robin Magee, Plaintiff - Appellant: Albert Turner Goins Sr., Goins Law Office, Ltd., Minneapolis, MN; Damon Ward, Ward Law Group, Minneapolis, MN.
For Trustees of the Hamline University, Minnesota, Donald Lewis, Defendants - Appellees: Vincent John Ella, Jackson & Lewis, Minneapolis, MN; Sara Gullickson McGrane, Felhaber & Larson, Minneapolis, MN.
For David Titus, in his individual capacity, Defendant - Appellee: Michelle S. Grant, Dorsey & Whitney, Minneapolis, MN.
Before SMITH, BEAM, and BENTON, Circuit Judges.
OPINION
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BENTON, Circuit Judge.
Robin K. Magee was terminated by the law school of Hamline University. She sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that the university, the dean, and the president of the St. Paul Police Federation (SPPF) conspired with the St. Paul Police Department to deny her constitutional right to
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freedom of speech. The district court[1] dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). The district court also denied as futile Magee's motion to add the SPPF as a party. She appeals. Having jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, this court affirms.
I.
Hamline is a private university in St. Paul, Minnesota. Magee, a law professor tenured since 1994, taught classes on policing, including police misconduct and race issues in the criminal justice system. On April 17, 2007, she authored a commentary in the St. Paul Pioneer Press criticizing a state judge's decision not to " investigate" allegations of racism in a trial for murder of a St. Paul police officer.
David A. Titus was a St. Paul police officer and president of the SPPF--a private federation representing St. Paul officers. Days after Magee's commentary, he authored an editorial questioning her " fitness to teach" and stating, " I hope Professor Magee confines her race baiting and cop-hating to her newspaper submissions and keeps it out of the classroom." At Titus's urging, Police ...