New documents show that Montana State University-Billings officials placed two tenured professors on immediate leave because they say communicating with Montana State inmates voluntarily via email after classes ended was a “safety risk.”

A disciplinary document that is forming the basis of the university’s decision to terminate both Jennifer Scroggins and Joshua Hill’s tenure and jobs details the communications, and has also formed the basis for the university to allege both of them had lied about a romantic relationship with each other, which they said did not develop until recently.

The move by MSUB administrators to terminate the two professors, though, began after the professors had brought up concerns about a prison education program about which other faculty had raised concerns. Th

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