Will Law School Reverse Chemerinsky Decision?
Updated: Speculation now centers on the possibility that the University of California at Irvine will reverse its decision and seek to rehire Erwin Chemerinsky to be its dean.
The school’s chancellor, Michael Drake, told Chemerinsky last week that he was withdrawing the job offer because the Duke professor’s liberal views were too controversial. Since then, hundreds of university students and professors signed a letter urging Drake to change his mind, Adam Liptak writes in a column for the New York Times (sub. req.).
Liptak writes that the controversy has damaged the university. “A week ago, the new law school, … set to open in 2009, had a bright future,” Liptak writes. “Now it looks as promising as a Civil War leg wound.”
That assessment is echoed by Marquette law professor Scott Moss, who contends in an opinion column for Law.com that the university may have violated the state and federal constitutions and ABA standards for law school accreditation.
Moss writes that Chemerinsky may have a claim under the First Amendment and a California constitutional provision that requires the university to be free of political influence.
He also cites ABA standards requiring law schools to support academic freedom and to maintain conditions adequate to attract and retain a competent faculty.
ABAJournal.com previously noted the flap has led to calls for Drake’s resignation.
Originally posted 09-17-2007 at 10:24 a.m.
