Opinion: In today’s pages: UCI drops Erwin Chemerinsky
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Pepperdine law professor Douglas W. Kmiec talks about UC Irvine’s hiring and controversial un-hiring of legal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky:
Erwin Chemerinsky is one of the finest constitutional scholars in the country. He is a gentleman and a friend. He is a gifted teacher. As someone who participates regularly in legal conferences and symposiums, I have never seen him be anything other than completely civil to those who disagree with him.So the news that UC Irvine had selected him to be the first dean of its new law school was welcome indeed. And the subsequent news -- that it withdrew the offer Tuesday, apparently because of Erwin’s political beliefs and work -- is a betrayal of everything a great institution like the University of California represents. It is a forfeiture of academic freedom.
Contributing editor Timothy Garton Ash says Europe is in the thick of the war on terror, even if Europeans don’t know it. Former CIA counter-terrorism official John Kiriakou and Kissinger McLarty Associates’ Richard Klein talk about that other war we’re losing--in Afghanistan. Columnist Patt Morrison wants to ban the Star Spangled Banner from being sung at ball games so it won’t be butchered by tuneless fans.
The editorial board advocates for stronger water conservation to prepare for a dry 2008, and thinks congressional sub-prime bailout plans fail to help the true victims. The board also weighs in on UCI’s Erwin Chemerinsky controversy.
Readers react to a Column One on Elyn Saks’ struggle with schizophrenia. Los Angeles’ Frank C. Baron says, ‘Those of us struggling with mental illness just want to be treated like anyone else....’