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Yale Law School's dean on Wednesday defended the school's approach to free speech after a prominent conservative federal judge decried what he described as rampant "cancel culture" on its campus and urged his peers not to hire Yale students as law clerks.
In a letter to alumni, Dean Heather Gerken stressed that the law school was "dedicated to building a vibrant intellectual environment where ideas flourish. The letter did not explicitly reference the hiring boycott led by Judge James Ho of the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
Gerken outlined moves to "reaffirm our enduring commitment to the free and unfettered exchange of ideas" since March, when a group of students disrupted a campus discussion with an invited conservative speaker.
Outsiders were largely unaware of those efforts by the law school, she said, citing recent revisions to its disciplinary code, a new emphasis on free expression and respectful engagement during orientation, and the hiring of a new dean of students.
Ho said during a Federalist Society speech on Sept. 29 that he would not hire clerks from Yale, where he said "cancellations and disruptions seem to occur with special frequency."
The judge, an appointee of former Republican President Donald Trump to the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit, urged others to follow suit. U.S. Circuit Judge Elizabeth Branch, a Trump appointee on the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, on Friday became the first judge to publicly join the boycott.
Over a half-dozen federal district and appeals court judges appointed by Republican presidents have told Reuters they have no plans to join the boycott, and in some cases, actively oppose it.
"I do not think it right or fair to penalize individual students for an ill-advised institutional policy," wrote U.S. Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, an appointee of former President Ronald Reagan.
U.S. Circuit Judge Ralph Erickson, a Trump appointee on the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, wrote that while he would not comment on anyone else's hiring practices, he would consider "all qualified applicants from all accredited law schools."
One of Ho's 5th Circuit colleagues, U.S. Circuit Judge Jerry Smith, a Reagan appointee who attended Yale, has called the boycott "regrettable" and said he hoped to receive more applications from Yale graduates.
But another member of the 5th Circuit, U.S. Circuit Judge Edith Jones, in an email said that while she had no policy regarding Yale applicants, she shared Ho's concerns.
"I’m very worried about the legal profession’s movement toward denying representation to those whose views it doesn’t share," wrote Jones, another Reagan appointee. "Shame on those lawyers and firms. And to the extent such exclusionary tactics are encouraged by the law schools, shame on them."
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Yale Law trumpets free speech stance amid judge's clerk-boycott push - Reuters
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