More on the Diploma Questions in Adams v. Gulley, the Case Where a Judge Ordered the Removal of Reddit Criticisms of a Public Commentator
The order: As readers may recall, I’ve written about a recent California court order that restricted online criticism of one Sarrita Adams. Adams runs Science On Trial, Inc., which “provides forensic consultation services across the United States and the United Kingdom.” Adams drew public attention by publicly criticizing the evidence in the 2023 English trial of nurse Lucy Letby, who was convicted of murdering seven infants. Her claims were mentioned in, among other publications, The Times (London), the New York Post, and most recently The New Yorker.
Adams’ criticism, however, itself drew criticism, including on Reddit’s r/scienceontrial (“This community exists to fact check claims about Science on Trial, its creator Sarrita Adams, and various statements that can be credited to her.”). The main poster there has been the pseudonymous Reddit user MrJusticeGossipGirl, apparently a reference to Mr. Justice Goss, the judge in the Letby trial. The posts generally criticize Adams’ credentials, views on the Letby trial, responses to critics, and more. (There’s also a reddit r/sarritaadams, which points the reader to r/scienceontrial.)
But on June 7, San Francisco County Superior Court Maria Evangelista issued a temporary harassment restraining order (Adams v. Gulley, PDF pp. 42-47) ordering defendant Gulley—who appears to be MrJusticeGossipGirl—
Do not make any social media posts about or impersonating plaintiff and her company Science on Trial on any public or social media platform. All harassing posts shall be removed.
This was done based on a restraining order request filed June 6; it appears that Gulley wasn’t given an opportunity to appear in court to oppose the order (this is known in this context as an “ex parte” proceeding). The order was extended for over four months, until mid-October, when the court ultimately vacated it on the grounds that the California courts lack jurisdiction over Gulley, a Pennsylvania resident. I argued here that the order also violated the First Amendment and the California restraining order law.
The diploma: But in the litigation over the order, Gulley’s lawyers (at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression) alleged that the filings on Adams’ side included a seemingly inauthentic diploma:
At the time I posted about that (Oct. 18), I had asked the Cambridge administration (on Oct. 6) whether the diploma was authentic but hadn’t gotten an answer. But I finally did get an answer, and here’s what the Cambridge people reported that “The attached certificate has not been issued by the University of Cambridge.” They specifically noted:
College—There is a spelling discrepancy with the name Caius
Date of Award—29 June 2017—The General Admission ceremony held on this date was for the conferment of Undergraduate and Master of Law degrees only, it would not have been possible to be awarded a Doctorate degree on the given date.
Biochemistry—University degree certificates do not state the subject of study/research undertaken for the degree
They also informed me that Adams had studied for a Ph.D. and submitted a thesis, but didn’t complete the expected corrections, and thus never received the Ph.D. (Note that some press accounts that discussed Adams’ claims about the Letby case stated that “She has a PhD in biochem
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