The saga of University of California, Santa Barbara feminist studies professor Mireille Miller-Young has taken yet another bizarro twist after her defenders urged a judge to excuse the criminal allegations against her because of the “cultural legacy of slavery.”

Miller-Young pleaded no contest last month to misdemeanor counts of battery, theft and vandalism after she rallied up a small gaggle of female vigilantes and attacked abortion protesters Thrin Short, 16, and Joan Short, 21. The radical feminist armada forcibly stole a graphic anti-abortion sign from the two protesters. Miller-Young scratched and appeared to push the 16-year-old girl, then destroyed the sign. (VIDEO: The Feminist Studies Prof Facing Assault Charges For Attacking 16-Year-Old Abortion Foe)

Now, as Miller-Young awaits sentencing, a coterie of her fellow professors has submitted letters about their colleague to the judge presiding over the case, Brian Hill.

As Fox News notes, some of the professors wrote the glowing letters on officially UCSB letterhead — possibly on school equipment and during their taxpayer-funded work time.

UCSB history professor Paul Spikard charged in his letter to Judge Hill that Miller-Young has been the victim of “an energetic smear campaign that seems to have little to do with her person or her actions, and a great deal to do with fomenting racial hatred and rallying right-wing political sentiment.”

“It would be tragic if Dr. Miller-Young were sentenced to jail time or mandatory anger management classes based on the press’ portrayal of her as an Angry Black Woman,” Spikard wrote.

Miller-Young, who specializes in queer theory, black film and pornography, apparently failed to mention either “racial hatred” or “right-wing political sentiment” when she speaking to police about the event in Marc just after it initially happened.

Instead, she said felt “triggered in a negative way” by graphic images on the anti-abortion poster and on corresponding anti-abortion literature. “Asked if there had been a struggle, Miller-Young stated, ‘I’m stronger so I was able to take the poster.'” (RELATED: Charges For Prof Who Claimed ‘MORAL RIGHT’ To Censor, Batter 16-Year-Old Abortion Foe)

The Santa Barbara Independent still has the full and amazing police report.

Another professor, Eileen Boris of UCSB’s feminist studies department, urged the judge in the case to be lenient because Miller-Young was three months pregnant when she stole the anti-abortion sign, destroyed it and battered a 16-year-old girl.

“She was at the stage of a pregnancy when one is not fully one’s self fully, so the image of a severed fetus appeared threatening,” Boris wrote, according to Fox News.

“If she appears smiling on camera, she is ‘wearing the mask,’ that is, she is hiding her actual state through a strategy of self-presentation that is a cultural legacy of slavery.”

Slavery was abolished in the United States about 110 years before Miller-Young was born.

A third defender of Miller-Young is Pat Hardy, who belongs to the Santa Barbara Friends Meeting (the Quakers) and is president of a group called Alternatives to Violence Project California. Hardy focused on the professor’s work in conflict resolution workshops.

“These workshops are offered both in the community as well as 19 prisons throughout the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation,” Hardy wrote, noting that the workshops are advertised to “gang members and at-risk youth.”

Apparently oblivious to the fact that Miller-Young has proven herself an utter failure at peaceful conflict resolution, Hardy urged the judge to allow Miller-Young “to make a change by exploring the world of non-violence within this setting.”

When the sign-destroying fracas occurred, the Short sisters were standing in a designated “free speech zone” on the UC Santa Barbara campus with at least one large, very gruesome poster depicting aborted fetuses. (VIDEO: The Feminist Studies Prof Facing Assault Charges For Attacking 16-Year-Old Abortion Foe)

In the video, the 16-year-old sister begs Miller-Young to give the sign back and observes that the professors has stolen it.

“I may be a thief,” Miller-Young answered, with a smug grin on her face, “but you’re a terrorist.”

The Short sisters are members of a Riverside, Calif.-based pro-life group called Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust. They used a cell phone to capture video footage of Miller-Young committing her crimes.

Joan Short, the older sister, said she believes Miller-Young must apologize for stealing the anti-abortion sign and for the violent bullying actions she took during the confrontation.

In an apology letter Miller-Young has already written, she said: “I wish to apologize for my actions” and admitted that “the Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust group had a perfect right to come to UC Santa Barbara to express their views about women’s reproductive rights,” according to Fox.

“As much as the images they displayed were offensive and distressing to my students, and to me, I had no right to take their poster or destroy it,” she added.

However, Miller-Young’s apology letter strenuously avoids mentioning that she scratched and appeared to push the 16-year-old Short sister.

“I guess I would like to see her say to her students, ‘I did a really stupid thing. You shouldn’t follow my example,'” said Joan Short, the older sister, according to Fox News.

Miller-Young’s sentencing hearing had been set for Thursday but the judge postponed it to a later date.

After the professor’s shenanigans (but before charges were filed) a taxpayer-paid vice-chancellor emailed students warning of “offensive speech” and denouncing “various anti-abortion crusaders.”

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