Posted by Eugene Volokh:
More from the *L.A. Times* on the Chemerinsky Matter:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2007_09_09-2007_09_15.shtml#1189701583
The [1]L.A. Times reports:
Chemerinsky and [UCI Chancellor] Drake agreed the new dean's
dismissal was motivated in part by an Aug. 16 opinion article in
The Times, the same day the job offer was made. In it, Chemerinsky
asserted that Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales was "about to adopt an
unnecessary and mean-spirited regulation that will make it harder
for those on death row to have their cases reviewed in federal
court."
But Drake and Chemerinsky split sharply on what role the article
played in the decision to fire the incoming dean and whether
academic freedom was at stake.
"Shouldn't we as academics be able to stand up for people on death
row?" Chemerinsky said.
Drake said that "we had talked to him in June about writing op-ed
pieces and that he would have to focus on things like legal
education in this new role, and then here comes another political
piece. It wasn't the subject, it was its existence. What he said
doesn't matter." ...
Chemerinsky said that Drake told him during a meeting at the
Sheraton Hotel near the Raleigh-Durham airport that "concerns" had
emerged from the University of California regents, which would have
had to approve the appointment. The professor said Drake told him
that he thought there would have been a "bloody battle" over the
appointment.
Drake disagreed with the account. "No one said we can't hire him,"
he said. "No one said don't take this to the regents. I consulted
with no regents about this. I told a couple people that I was
worried and that this might be controversial, but no one called me
and said I should do anything."
Drake drew support from Christopher Edley, dean of the Boalt Hall
School of Law at UC Berkeley, whom Drake consulted on the decision
to let Chemerinsky go.
"It appeared to me that Michael was willing to go forward in the
face of opposition but for the fact that he lost confidence in
Erwin's willingness to subordinate his autonomy and personal
profile for the good of the institution," Edley said.
Edley, who worked in the Clinton administration, said it was
nothing that he had not been called to do himself.
"I was questioned explicitly by people who feared I would turn the
deanship into a platform for my own ideological commitments," he
said. "But it was clear to me then, and it's clear to me now, that
the job requires something else." ...
References
1.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-uci13sep13,1,1557790.story?coll=la-headlines-california&ctrack=1&cset=true
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