RE: Justice Scalia

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Treanor and Colleagues: Like Mike Seidman, I also was put-off by the invocation of the "Georgetown Community" in the press release that Dean Treanor issued Saturday. I imagine many other faculty, students and staff, particularly people of color, women and sexual minorities, cringed at headline and at the unmitigated praise with which the press release described a jurist that many of us believe was a defender of privilege, oppression and bigotry, one whose intellectual positions were not brilliant but simplistic and formalistic. I am not suggesting that J. Scalia should have been criticized on the day of his death, nor that the "community" should not be thankful for his willingness to meet with our students. But he was not a legal figure to be lionized or emulated by our students. He bullied lawyers, trafficked in personal humiliation of advocates, and openly sided with the party of intolerance in the "culture wars" he often invoked. In my mind, he was not a "giant" in any good sense. It is tricky knowing what to say when a public figure like Scalia, or the late Robert Byrd, or other voices of intolerance, meet their death. But as an academic institution, I believe that we should be wary of contributing to the mystification of people because of the lofty official positions they achieved. I don't want to teach our students to hold someone like Scalia in reverence because he's a "Supreme Court Justice." Our proximity to official Washington provides an opportunity to see many public officials close-up, and to learn that there is nothing special that titles bestow--even a Supreme Court Justice can be a bigot, and there is no reason to be intimidated by the purported "brilliance" that others describe because, when you have a chance to see and hear such people close-up, the empowering effect is often, as it should be, de-mystification. (I was happy to meet Warren Burger as a law student for this very reason). We should never teach our students to be obsequious to those with power. The "Georgetown Community" could mean many things. In one sense, it is simply a legally constituted set of formal relations, and in that sense perhaps "the Dean," duly appointed by "the President," speaks for that "institution" of formal legal relations. But there is also a lived community that we inhabit, within the interstices of the formal and contractually defined roles, a community that exists in our relations with each other and with our co-workers and our students, a community that is constituted in our hallways and class rooms and lunch rooms, and in our affection for and commitment to one another, and, for many of us, a vision of how we could all be together in the law school, disagreeing often but always trying to be sensitive and empathic to all members of our community. That is the "Georgetown Community" that I feel a part of, a lived community of tolerance, affection, and care that so many have built for so long here. That "community" would never have claimed that our entire community mourns the loss of J. Scalia, nor contributed to his mystification without regard for the harm and hurt he inflicted. That community teaches critique, not deference, and empowerment, not obseqiuosness. Sometimes the two senses of community might merge--the formal, legal institution might be so at one with the lived community that its legitimacy to speak for the "community" flows organically. But that is not our situation. Sincerely, Gary ________________________________ From: Louis Seidman Sent: Saturday, February 13, 2016 10:02 PM To: William M. Treanor Cc: Milton Regan; Law Faculty and Visitors Subject: Re: Justice Scalia Our norms of civility preclude criticizing public figures immediately after their death. For now, then, all I’ll say is that I disagree with these sentiments and that expressions attributed to the “Georgetown Community” in the press release issued this evening do not reflect the views of the entire community.. On Feb 13, 2016, at 6:35 PM, William M. Treanor <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: This is such sad news. I will never forget his lecture to our first year class in November. We thought he would leave right after the lecture, but he stayed in the Health and Fitness lobby long after the talk was over, engaging with students informally about anything they wanted to talk about, speaking with characteristic humor, passion, and intelligence. I know they will always treasure that memory. He cared deeply about the law and about those embarking on careers in the law. We have lost a giant. Sent from my iPhone On Feb 13, 2016, at 5:30 PM, Milton Regan <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Justice Scalia passed away today during a visit to Texas: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/breaking-news-supreme-court-justice-antonin-scalia-dead-at-the-age-of-79-219246 Best, Mitt Mitt Regan McDevitt Professor of Jurisprudence Co-Director, Center for the Study of the Legal Profession Georgetown Law Center 600 New Jersey Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20001 Phone: 202-662-9414 Distinguished Chair in Ethics, 2015-2016 Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership U.S. Naval Academy