UUP member and University of Buffalo professor of visual arts Steven Kurtz has been waiting four years to hear four words, “This case is dismissed.”

He got his wish April 21, when Federal Judge Richard J. Arcara ruled to dismiss the indictment that had been hanging over Kurtz’s head since June 2004, when he was charged with two counts each of mail fraud and wire fraud. The charges stemmed from an exchange of $256 worth of harmless bacteria with Robert Ferrell, a professor of human genetics at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. Kurtz planned to use the bacteria in an educational art exhibit about biotechnology with his award-winning art and theater collective, Critical Art Ensemble.

The charges followed Kurtz’s detention on suspicion of bioterrorism. Local authorities contacted the FBI after responding to Kurtz’s call that his wife had died suddenly overnight.

UUP in February passed a resolution in support of academic freedom and Kurtz’s right to free expression. The resolution, which was adopted during the union’s 2008 Winter Delegate Assembly, called on the union to “insist that all charges and legal proceedings against Dr. Steven Kurtz be immediately dropped.”

UUP also asked its affiliates to take similar action on Kurtz’s behalf.

“This is great news for our UB colleague,” said UUP Vice President for Academics Frederick Floss of Buffalo State. “This is a great victory for academic freedom.”

Kurtz’s lawyer, Paul Cambria, said his client was pleased and relieved that this ordeal may be coming to an end.

The prosecution has the right to appeal this dismissal. If an appeal were undertaken, the case would move to the New York Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City.

— Karen L. Mattison