I recommend to you a really thoughtful post on the Academe blog entitled “Why Litigation is Academic Freedom” The post addresses the ongoing political attacks on UNC Law School’s Civil Rights Center (Center) and uses an interview with one of our contributing authors, Judith Wegner, to flesh out the issues.
As Professor Wegner notes,
The Center for Civil Rights (CCR) was founded by distinguished UNC Law alumnus Julius L. Chambers in 2001. Chambers was among the country’s foremost civil rights lawyers, who established a leading integrated law firm, successfully advocated in civil rights cases before the US Supreme Court, served as Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and returned to his home state to lead NC Central University as its chancellor. He was a brilliant, visionary advocate for justice, and the center is intended to prepare a new generation of lawyers to follow in his footsteps.
The post notes that the Center receives no state funds, but “has received grants from major foundations and partnered with a wide range of organizations.” Members of the University Board of Governors make a number of contentions including that “university-associated” centers and/or law clinics should not engage in litigation and that law students associated with public universities should not be engaged in suing state or local governments. Particular members claim that the Center has “a political axe to grind.”
Wegner deftly explains the importance of Centers, clinics and externships to the education of lawyers and the reason that litigation is exactly what law students should be learning to do! In addition, she aptly points out that the Board of Governors arguments are
simply another way of claiming that the center should not engage in litigation on behalf of poor and minority clients. These clients are ones who would typically not have alternative options for representation. Limits on the kinds of cases that can be brought by legal aid lawyers, recent cuts in the state budget for legal services for the poor, and threats to funding for the national Legal Services Corporation leave such clients with even fewer options.
The law school has a diverse range of class offerings that explore all manner of issues from diverse points of view. Indeed, the law school also hosts a Center for Banking and Finance (created at the same time the Center for Civil Rights was created) and a Center for Climate, Energy, Environment, and Economics. Neither of these other centers has been attacked or their activities challenged, nor should they.
Finally, the post encourages those who agree that the attack on UNC Centers and Clinics is politically motivated and a violation of academic freedom to take action:
If I tell you that we are in jeopardy of compromising our integrity and commitment to the state and to the search for truth, please believe me. And please do something about it. Write Chancellor Folt, President Spellings, and SACSCOC—again, the emails are: chancellor@unc.edu, margaret.spellings@northcarolina.edu, and questions@sacscoc.org. Do not be complicit. Stand up for truth and for justice!
Filed under: academic freedom, Uncategorized | Tagged: ABA accreditation, academic freedom, law school, legal education, political interference | Comments Off on Is Litigating an Expression of Academic Freedom?
Best Practices for Legal Education 