UCI LAW: The Chemerinsky Affair
Posted by: Scott W. Graves | 11/16/2007 6:33 PM
By Hugh Hewitt
Full disclosure: Erwin Chemerinsky is a friend whom I have known for perhaps 15 years. He often appeared with me on Life & Times, the nightly news and public affairs show I co-hosted for PBS Los Angeles affiliate KCET for 10 years.
Along with Chapman Law School Dean John Eastman, Erwin has been a regular guest on my syndicated radio show since it began airing in July of 2000. Since the first days of the program, the two have appeared together nearly every week in a segment on Constitutional law I branded as "The Smart Guys", because both are, well, very smart guys. I estimate he has made more than 300 appearances on the program.
I have taught Con Law for a dozen years at Chapman University Law School. As soon as Erwin's casebook came out, I adopted it for my course and continue to use it.
Of course I disagree with Erwin on 99 out of 100 issues. He's just wrong that often in his understanding of what the law ought to be.
And he will make a wonderful dean of the new law school at the University of California, Irvine.
Political ideology has very little to do with most jobs. Although Ronald Reagan joked with the surgeons attending him when he was wheeled into George Washington University Hospital after taking a would-be assassin's bullet that he hoped they were all Republicans, he of course didn't care what party they were with--he knew he could trust them.
I think Orange County residents and California taxpayers can trust Erwin to build a second great law school in Orange County, just as liberals can trust Chapman Dean Eastman to continue to do the same at our law school and Dean Ken Starr at Pepperdine Law School. The duties of a dean, especially at a new or a young school, simply do not intersect with ideology or Con Law methodology.
When the story first broke that Erwin had been hired and then fired as the first dean at the UCI law school, I posted at my blog and broadcast on my radio show that this was an outrageous decision, one that needed to be reversed. I appealed to the UC system's Board of Regents to do just that. Fortunately the Chancellor at UCI came to his senses, flew a second time to North Carolina and appealed to Erwin to forgive and forget. The always gracious Chemerinsky did so, and is back in as dean.
Some of my listeners are concerned that Erwin's politics will shape UCI's law school into a liberal or even far-left institution. Most law schools are liberal, because most law professors, like other professors, generally are liberal. But I fully expect some big name conservatives to arrive in Erwin's wake, and for an intellectually diverse faculty to evolve under his guidance just as it has at Chapman Law School.
Chapman is a vibrant place because it boasts a faculty of tremendous achievement who are engaged and passionate scholars. With three Supreme Court law clerks--the ultimate credential in the world of law schools--Chapman has never lost sight of the need to hire its faculty based on achievement and excellent teaching, and the same pattern will emerge at UCI's law school. To make a mark--Erwin's certain ambition--UCI will have to include professors of all backgrounds.
The first duties of a dean of a new school are to hire the first faculty and then oversee the arduous process of achieving accreditation with the American Bar Association and the Association of American Law Schools. For these highly specialized tasks, Erwin is extremely well suited as he knows almost everyone in the leadership of both groups, just as Dean Parham Williams was at Chapman Law School. It is a skills set that is very, very rare, and like Dean Williams, Erwin has it. Erwin is probably the most sought after speaker at the annual conferences of the federal judicial circuits of the United States, and one of the most popular lecturers to law students cramming for the Bar Exams across the U.S. every year. All of these things are true because he is brilliant, a possessor of a unique mind and an extraordinary teacher.
He is certainly a man of the left. But it is the glory of the American legal system that such men (and women) are welcomed before our courts, and free to make their arguments in person or in print, and to allow judges with lifetime appointments to decide the issues free of political influence. The system needs skilled advocates carefully arguing opposing viewpoints. This is what Erwin has always done, and he knows the value of the battle.
Rest easy Orange County. The new law school will be ably led and a credit to the campus which you are helping to fund. Erwin will often be wrong in his political opinions (and long may he make them known), but he will certainly prove to be a great asset in this great county.
Hugh Hewitt is the host of a nationally syndicated radio show that is heard locally on 870 KRLA-AM. He is a professor of law at Chapman University Law School and a partner at the law firm of Hewitt & O'Neil. Mr. Hewitt is also one of the Internet's most prolific political bloggers via his website, www.hughhewitt.com.
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BONUS FEATURE: Q&A with Erwin Chemerinsky
By Jonathan Movroydis
Jonathan: Will you create joint programs with other UCI academic departments?
Erwin: Yes, we will have joint degrees in business, medicine, and other areas.
Jonathan: In the past there have been talks about placing California Superior Courts on campus as part of a clinical trial program; would this be a program you might pursue?
Erwin: Yes, clinical education will be a key part of the law school. I have not looked into placing a Superior Court on campus, but it would be great if it could be done. (Logistics and space may make this impossible.)
Jonathan: What is your criteria for choosing faculty? Will you employ lawyers from the professional ranks or include adjunct staff from the Orange County legal community?
Erwin: I want a truly outstanding faculty that represents a wide diversity of views and areas of specialty. I am sure we will use judges and lawyers as adjunct faculty, though I cannot speak about specific individuals.
Jonathan: Will the school provide forums of debate for prominent lawyers, judges, and legal scholars from all points of the political spectrum?
Erwin: Absolutely!
Full disclosure: Erwin Chemerinsky is a friend whom I have known for perhaps 15 years. He often appeared with me on Life & Times, the nightly news and public affairs show I co-hosted for PBS Los Angeles affiliate KCET for 10 years.
Along with Chapman Law School Dean John Eastman, Erwin has been a regular guest on my syndicated radio show since it began airing in July of 2000. Since the first days of the program, the two have appeared together nearly every week in a segment on Constitutional law I branded as "The Smart Guys", because both are, well, very smart guys. I estimate he has made more than 300 appearances on the program.I have taught Con Law for a dozen years at Chapman University Law School. As soon as Erwin's casebook came out, I adopted it for my course and continue to use it.
Of course I disagree with Erwin on 99 out of 100 issues. He's just wrong that often in his understanding of what the law ought to be.
And he will make a wonderful dean of the new law school at the University of California, Irvine.
Political ideology has very little to do with most jobs. Although Ronald Reagan joked with the surgeons attending him when he was wheeled into George Washington University Hospital after taking a would-be assassin's bullet that he hoped they were all Republicans, he of course didn't care what party they were with--he knew he could trust them.
I think Orange County residents and California taxpayers can trust Erwin to build a second great law school in Orange County, just as liberals can trust Chapman Dean Eastman to continue to do the same at our law school and Dean Ken Starr at Pepperdine Law School. The duties of a dean, especially at a new or a young school, simply do not intersect with ideology or Con Law methodology.
When the story first broke that Erwin had been hired and then fired as the first dean at the UCI law school, I posted at my blog and broadcast on my radio show that this was an outrageous decision, one that needed to be reversed. I appealed to the UC system's Board of Regents to do just that. Fortunately the Chancellor at UCI came to his senses, flew a second time to North Carolina and appealed to Erwin to forgive and forget. The always gracious Chemerinsky did so, and is back in as dean.Some of my listeners are concerned that Erwin's politics will shape UCI's law school into a liberal or even far-left institution. Most law schools are liberal, because most law professors, like other professors, generally are liberal. But I fully expect some big name conservatives to arrive in Erwin's wake, and for an intellectually diverse faculty to evolve under his guidance just as it has at Chapman Law School.
Chapman is a vibrant place because it boasts a faculty of tremendous achievement who are engaged and passionate scholars. With three Supreme Court law clerks--the ultimate credential in the world of law schools--Chapman has never lost sight of the need to hire its faculty based on achievement and excellent teaching, and the same pattern will emerge at UCI's law school. To make a mark--Erwin's certain ambition--UCI will have to include professors of all backgrounds.
The first duties of a dean of a new school are to hire the first faculty and then oversee the arduous process of achieving accreditation with the American Bar Association and the Association of American Law Schools. For these highly specialized tasks, Erwin is extremely well suited as he knows almost everyone in the leadership of both groups, just as Dean Parham Williams was at Chapman Law School. It is a skills set that is very, very rare, and like Dean Williams, Erwin has it. Erwin is probably the most sought after speaker at the annual conferences of the federal judicial circuits of the United States, and one of the most popular lecturers to law students cramming for the Bar Exams across the U.S. every year. All of these things are true because he is brilliant, a possessor of a unique mind and an extraordinary teacher.
He is certainly a man of the left. But it is the glory of the American legal system that such men (and women) are welcomed before our courts, and free to make their arguments in person or in print, and to allow judges with lifetime appointments to decide the issues free of political influence. The system needs skilled advocates carefully arguing opposing viewpoints. This is what Erwin has always done, and he knows the value of the battle.
Rest easy Orange County. The new law school will be ably led and a credit to the campus which you are helping to fund. Erwin will often be wrong in his political opinions (and long may he make them known), but he will certainly prove to be a great asset in this great county.
Hugh Hewitt is the host of a nationally syndicated radio show that is heard locally on 870 KRLA-AM. He is a professor of law at Chapman University Law School and a partner at the law firm of Hewitt & O'Neil. Mr. Hewitt is also one of the Internet's most prolific political bloggers via his website, www.hughhewitt.com.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
BONUS FEATURE: Q&A with Erwin Chemerinsky
By Jonathan Movroydis
Jonathan: Will you create joint programs with other UCI academic departments?
Erwin: Yes, we will have joint degrees in business, medicine, and other areas.
Jonathan: In the past there have been talks about placing California Superior Courts on campus as part of a clinical trial program; would this be a program you might pursue?
Erwin: Yes, clinical education will be a key part of the law school. I have not looked into placing a Superior Court on campus, but it would be great if it could be done. (Logistics and space may make this impossible.)
Jonathan: What is your criteria for choosing faculty? Will you employ lawyers from the professional ranks or include adjunct staff from the Orange County legal community?
Erwin: I want a truly outstanding faculty that represents a wide diversity of views and areas of specialty. I am sure we will use judges and lawyers as adjunct faculty, though I cannot speak about specific individuals.
Jonathan: Will the school provide forums of debate for prominent lawyers, judges, and legal scholars from all points of the political spectrum?
Erwin: Absolutely!
