Comments on: Dees-graceful: proposing a new orthodoxy at GW Law

By: Anonymous Attorney

Anonymous Attorney — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:43:15 +0000

Yet another problem with the ascendance of the SPLC to quasi-governmental status: its determinations become “law” in the minds of many, as reliable as the NOAA’s records on precipitation levels or something. “Your honor, I ask for a judicial finding that this is a ‘hate speaker’, because he’s listed by the SPLC.” Obviously, the comparison doesn’t work.

I’m not surprised the GW proposal surfaced. When I was in law school, flyers for a fledgling Federalist Society were scrawled with swastikas or torn down.

By: Bill Alexander

Bill Alexander — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 04:49:13 +0000

It probably is up for consideration on the first of April.

By: Walter Olson

Walter Olson — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 03:32:27 +0000

Thanks. One of my thoughts when I read the student-paper report was, “I can’t believe Orin Kerr, Jeff Rosen, and a half dozen others on the faculty wouldn’t be able to swat this down with one hand.” I hope you never even have to try.

By: Orin Kerr

Orin Kerr — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 02:52:35 +0000

Just to add to what Walter says, the GW Law faculty has never been told that there is a policy under consideration. I first learned about the story a day or two ago when a concerned student sent me the link to the Nota Bene story. At the time, I asked a few colleagues about it, and they had never heard of this, either. Moreover, the Friday faculty meeting was canceled for lack of business, so I don’t think there was ever a plan to have the faculty consider this at a Friday meeting.

To put it bluntly, I have no idea how this came to be reported as something the GW Law Faculty is considering. But as a GW Law faculty member, I can say that to my knowledge that report is simply false.

By: Walter Olson

Walter Olson — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 01:44:46 +0000

The student paper’s initial reporting on this may have seriously overstated how far the proposal managed to get, which is why I’ve rewritten the post. According to a source on the GW law faculty, it is a proposal from students, endorsed by the student bar association senate, which (contrary to the first NotaBene report) has received no consideration, let alone imminent approval, from the faculty.

By: John Burgess

John Burgess — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 01:28:19 +0000

Let’s also throw in (together, please) AIPAC and CAIR.

By: Gideon

Gideon — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 00:46:38 +0000

What happens when either the SPLC or the ADL lists the other as a “hate group?”