As I write this, 2400 (and counting!) of America's finest law professors have signed an open letter in The New York Times opposing the confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh. It's a motley group - newbie soft socialists mixed with the doddering emeritus faculty titans. Chemerinsky, Tribe, and Geoffrey Stone are there. There's Deborah Rhode. Notorious faith-defender Ted Seto signed; so did legal Bolsheviks Brian Tamanaha and Paul Campos.
A notable name isn't there, of course. Don't worry - the Prophet opposes Kav, too, just on other grounds. Is that the perfect rad neato MTV response or what?
More than anything, though, this petition shows just how insignificant legal academia is. So what if they agree on everything? Poof, this guy's getting ramrodded through to a Supreme Court anyway and all because a very small handful of Senators don't want to be shunned at barbecues and future consulting engagements. Neither Jeff Flake nor Susan Collins are enlightened with the gift of law and yet their thoughts mean more than the opinions of thousands of full-time law school faculty members they're going to summarily ignore.
God bless America. You might think, reader, that as a law school advocate I would scold the Senate for not trusting their obvious betters. On the contrary, this is what educators refer to as a teaching moment. There is perhaps no better way to show law students past, present, and future the utter and obvious futility of having informed opinions shared publicly. No greater lesson can be learned as a young lawyer than to have an ignoramus of a client trample one's advice. This epistle is clinical education on a national scale.
If you think you can actually win when you go out and make it rain justice like a god of yore, you've got a lot to learn about The Law. It's all in how you play the game: wear a snappy suit, say the right things, collect your paycheck.
Because these law professors aren't doing a god-damned thing to move the needle a micrometer. They might as well be playing Learned Hand with themselves. But holy cow it looks swell.
What do they all have in common? They're getting paid, suckers. The Million Dollar Express tracks run parallel to the Big Money Line. We all can get rich.
...and so can you. With just 300 easy payments of $1500/mo, you can finance a legal education at any number of outstanding law schools whose professors make their voices heard on very important matters. Some day you'll make enough money that no one will care what you and 2399 friends have to say publicly, too! All aboard!
Who asked those overpaid asswipes to weigh in on this issue? Open letter to the New York Times? As if the opinions of a couple of thousand parasitic ne'er-do-wells were of public interest. Hubris as usual.
ReplyDeleteBetcha Nando didn't sign.
ReplyDeleteFuck these people and the horses they rode in on. I'd asset that their opposition to Kavanaugh has little to do with any sense of social justice or fervent ideology about the Constitution. The fact of the matter is that a more "Originalist" approach to the Constitution lends itself to much less pontification, interpretation and re-interpretation, which are these law profs bread and butter.
ReplyDeleteExcellent point! Law professors drip with elitism no different than that of Kavanaugh. With Trump, it actually is better that law professors be voiceless and not irritate people.
ReplyDelete