Posted by Orin Kerr:
Law School Deans on Independent Judiciary:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2005_05_01-2005_05_07.shtml#1115404119
Distrust of the federal judiciary among social conservatives owes
partly to the perception that the judiciary has embraced and
constitutionalized viewpoints widely shared in the nation's law
schools but disputed elsewhere. Whether this view is sound or not, it
envisions most law schools as having taken sides in modern debates
over important aspects of the meaning of the Constitution. See, e.g.,
Romer v. Evans 517 U.S. 610 (1996) (Scalia, J., dissenting) ("When the
Court takes sides in the culture wars, it tends to be with the knights
rather than the villains--and more specifically with the Templars,
reflecting the views and values of the lawyer class from which the
Court's Members are drawn.").
Given that perception, I'm not sure how much it helps to have the
Deans at most of the nation's law schools sign a letter in which they
[1]"strongly oppose" recent criticism, express "full support" for the
federal judiciary, and "urge" people to stop threatening to impeach or
otherwise retaliate against judges for their decisions. I certainly
agree that many of the recent attacks have gone way too far -- to
[2]the point of parody, even. At the same time, I wonder if the letter
will backfire. Existing critics presumably will see it as proof that
they're right; they'll figure the Deans are defending the judges
because they're on the same side. The fact that Deans at a number of
schools known to be more conservative declined to sign the letter will
only further that perception. I'm not sure, but I wouldn't be
surprised if the letter only adds fuel to the fire.
Thanks to [3]Brian Leiter for the link.
References
1. http://www.law.nyu.edu/statement_lawschooldeans.pdf
2. http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2005_04_10-2005_04_16.shtml#1113349830
3. http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2005/05/law_school_dean_1.html
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