Law School Administrators Supposedly Advised Schools on How to Circumvent Ban on Affirmative Action
“stressed the need for plausible deniability”
It’s absolutely amazing how so many people in higher ed are clinging desperately to this.
The Washington Free Beacon reported:
Law School Administrators Huddle To Circumvent Affirmative Action Ban
Top law school administrators are brainstorming ways to circumvent the Supreme Court’s ban on race-based admissions, advising schools not to create a “record” of “discriminatory intent” and warning that socioeconomic preferences will result in too many white and Asian students being admitted.
That advice, dispensed at a legal conference in July, came from UC Berkeley Law School dean Erwin Chemerinsky and University of Michigan general counsel Timothy Lynch. Hosted by the American Association of Law Schools, the event focused on how institutions could use race-neutral means to achieve diversity.
When attendees questioned the legality of such methods, arguing that they could be struck down because of their race-conscious motive, Lynch stressed the need for plausible deniability.
“You should be aware right now of the record you’re creating,” Lynch told the conference, which was ostensibly devoted to helping schools comply with the Supreme Court’s decision. “What are your faculty saying in emails? What are they saying in public?”
Plaintiffs often look for evidence of “discriminatory intent,” Lynch explained, noting that the Supreme Court explicitly forbade backdoor racial preferences in its ruling. The “key question,” he said, is “what can you say right now is the race-neutral explanation for doing it, and how do you avoid having your faculty colleagues muddy the record?”
“Great point,” replied Chemerinsky, who moderated the conference. The Berkeley Law dean had been caught on tape a few days earlier, in June, describing how his school gets around California’s ban on affirmative action in faculty hiring, joking with students that “if ever I’m deposed, I’m going to deny I said this to you.”
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Comments
“if ever I’m deposed, I’m going to deny I said this to you.”
Great quote from a law school dean.
We should assume that this is the sort of “ethics” they teach their students and NEVER employ a graduate from UC Berkeley Law again.
This is not the approach that I was taught in law school way back in the ‘50s. My God, what has happened to my profession?
“So you’re advising us to break the law and lie about it”.
Interesting position: law school administrators huddle to come up with a way to break the law–why should we take any of them seriously?
The easiest way to avoid discriminatory intent is to not have it in the first place.
Not that it would do anything, but reporting these two attorneys to the bars of the various states they are licensed in would seem to be appropriate.
A less charitable definition would be conspiracy.
The easiest way to avoid discriminatory intent is to not have it in the first place.
Not that it would do anything, but reporting these two attorneys to the bars of the various states they are licensed in would seem to be appropriate.
In Professor Woodbridges study guide for the Virginia Bar exam way back in 1959 he included a set piece: You are asked to represent a man who admittedly owes a certain sum but collection is barred by the Statute of Limitations. The good Professor suggests that you advise the man of the available defense but the refuse to represent him. Why? Because he owed the money.
Compare that with today’s law school administrators. I thank the Lord that I am long retired.
In Professor Woodbridges study guide for the Virginia Bar exam way back in 1959 he included a set piece: You are asked to represent a man who admittedly owes a certain sum but collection is barred by the Statute of Limitations. The good Professor suggests that you advise the man of the available defense but then refuse to represent him. Why? Because he owed the money.
Compare that with today’s law school administrators. I thank the Lord that I am long retired.