diff --git a/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views.py b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views.py
index 1df2c44ff7..78a1a41bc1 100644
--- a/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views.py
+++ b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views.py
@@ -209,10 +209,6 @@ def preview_component(request, location):
     })
 
 
-@login_required
-def delete_unit(request, location):
-    pass
-
 
 def user_author_string(user):
     '''Get an author string for commits by this user.  Format:
@@ -382,12 +378,33 @@ def get_module_previews(request, descriptor):
         preview_html.append(module.get_html())
     return preview_html
 
+def _delete_item(item, recurse=False):
+    if recurse:
+        children = item.get_children()
+        for child in children:
+            _delete_item(child)
+        
+    modulestore().delete_item(item.location);
+    
 
 @login_required
 @expect_json
 def delete_item(request):
     item_location = request.POST['id']
-    modulestore().delete_item(item_location)
+
+    # check permissions for this user within this course
+    if not has_access(request.user, item_location):
+        raise PermissionDenied()
+
+    # optional parameter to delete all children (default False)
+    delete_children = False
+    if 'delete_children' in request.POST:
+        delete_children = request.POST['delete_children'] in ['true', 'True']
+
+    item = modulestore().get_item(item_location)
+
+    _delete_item(item)
+    
     return HttpResponse()
 
 
diff --git a/cms/static/js/base.js b/cms/static/js/base.js
index 16a7f87202..86846ee5e4 100644
--- a/cms/static/js/base.js
+++ b/cms/static/js/base.js
@@ -20,8 +20,24 @@ $(document).ready(function() {
     $('.unit-history ol a').bind('click', showHistoryModal);
     $modal.bind('click', hideHistoryModal);
     $modalCover.bind('click', hideHistoryModal);
+
+    $('.unit .item-actions .delete-button').bind('click', deleteUnit);
 });
 
+function deleteUnit(e) {
+    e.preventDefault();
+    var id = $(this).data('id');
+    var _this = $(this);
+    
+    $.post('/delete_item', 
+	   {'id': id, 'delete_children' : 'true'}, 
+	   function(data) {
+	       // remove 'leaf' class containing <li> element
+	       var parent = _this.parents('li.leaf');
+	       parent.remove();
+	   });
+}
+
 function toggleSubmodules(e) {
     e.preventDefault();
     $(this).toggleClass('expand').toggleClass('collapse');
diff --git a/cms/templates/widgets/units.html b/cms/templates/widgets/units.html
index 12b0d33039..2605277e71 100644
--- a/cms/templates/widgets/units.html
+++ b/cms/templates/widgets/units.html
@@ -6,13 +6,13 @@ This def will enumerate through a passed in subsection and list all of the units
 <%def name="enum_units(subsection)">
 <ol>
   % for unit in subsection.get_children():
-  <li class="leaf">
+  <li class="leaf unit">
     <div class="section-item">
       <a href="${reverse('edit_unit', args=[unit.location])}" class="private-item">
 	<span class="${unit.category}-icon"></span>${unit.display_name} <span class="private-tag">- private</span>
       </a>
       <div class="item-actions">
-	<a href="${reverse('delete_unit', args=[unit.location])}" classs="edit-button wip"><span class="delete-icon"></span></a>
+	<a href="#" class="delete-button" data-id="${unit.location}"><span class="delete-icon"></span></a>
 	<a href="#" class="drag-handle wip"></a>
       </div>
     </div>
@@ -25,3 +25,6 @@ This def will enumerate through a passed in subsection and list all of the units
   </li>
 </ol>
 </%def> 
+
+
+
diff --git a/cms/urls.py b/cms/urls.py
index 7cbb912b06..b57f894acb 100644
--- a/cms/urls.py
+++ b/cms/urls.py
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ urlpatterns = ('',
     url(r'^$', 'contentstore.views.index', name='index'),
     url(r'^edit/(?P<location>.*?)$', 'contentstore.views.edit_unit', name='edit_unit'),
     url(r'^subsection/(?P<location>.*?)$', 'contentstore.views.edit_subsection', name='edit_subsection'),
-    url(r'^delete/(?P<location>.*?)$', 'contentstore.views.delete_unit', name='delete_unit'),
     url(r'^preview_component/(?P<location>.*?)$', 'contentstore.views.preview_component', name='preview_component'),
     url(r'^save_item$', 'contentstore.views.save_item', name='save_item'),
     url(r'^delete_item$', 'contentstore.views.delete_item', name='delete_item'),