In January 2005, Churchill's essay "Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens" was picked up by local and national media, particularly one line that compared some victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to Nazis.

The essay was published in 2001 on an obscure Internet site and went virtually unnoticed for more than three years.

C.U. then decided to go after every word he had written, in hopes of finding something that would justify his firing.

"In response to the unprecedented outcry against Ward Churchill over the 9/11 essay he wrote, the University vowed to examine every word ever written or spoken by Professor Churchill in an effort to find some excuse for terminating his employment," attorney David Lane wrote in Churchill's lawsuit.

Churchill was fired July 24, 2007, after university committees examined his scholarly writings and determined that he had engaged in plagiarism and academic fraud. The university regents voted 8-1 for his termination.

The issues:

The jury will be asked to consider two claims: that the university retaliated against Chur chill first by launching an investigation into his academic rec ord and then by firing him. Churchill, 61, is seeking reinstatement and a financial judgment.

Churchill has one of Denver's best First Amendment lawyer on his side, David Lane.

"He is looking forward to having his day in court finally in a public forum so the public can hear what this witch hunt was all about," Lane said.

The Race to the Bottom, a collaborative effort of law professors and students, will be live-blogging the trial here.