The Faculty Lounge

Our Man in Tehran

If you are looking for something to watch this holiday weekend, I highly recommend “Our Man in Tehran,” a two-part PBS Frontline documentary. It provides an absolutely fascinating window into Iran, unlike anything I have ever seen before.

The film is narrated by Thomas Erdbrink, a New York Times correspondent based in Tehran. Erdbrink’s long and unique experience in Iran gives him an extraordinary perspective on the country, one unmatched by any other western journalist. In 2003 he married Newsha Tavakolian, an Iranian artist and photojournalist, and they have lived in Tehran ever since. The loving but argumentative relationship between Erdbrink and Tavakolian is worth the price of admission, but so too is the remarkable range of personalities and stories in the documentary. I have never before seen such an intimate portrait of Iran.

The film’s central theme is the heavy human cost of the Iranian theocracy’s use of law as a bulwark against social change. The whole documentary is unforgettable and often quite moving. Part One is available here on the PBS website and Part Two is available here.    

A Girl Stands at the Door

Few Supreme Court rulings in history have approached the importance of the 1954 case of Brown v. Board of Education. In overturning the notorious case of Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court in Brown unanimously held that “in the field of public education, the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”

Brown is rightfully celebrated as a great chapter in American history. But do we really know the whole story of how the case arrived at the Supreme Court?

Len Kachinsky & the fallible Strickland standard

In a series of prior posts, I explored the various interrogations of Brendan Dassey in 2005 and 2006. Then sixteen, Dassey was interrogated numerous times across a several-month span about his involvement in the murder of photographer Teresa Halbach. One of the interrogations, which took place on March 1, 2006, was the centerpiece of the state’s case. His March 1 statements—including that Dassey cut Halbach’s throat—were featured in the Making a Murderer series and were the focus of Dassey’s recently denied petition for a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court.

Dassey’s confession aside, I began more recently to explore the concerning pretrial representation Dassey received from his appointed lawyer, Len Kachinksy. During a five-month span representing Dassey from March to August of 2006, Kachinsky waived critical issues, spoke to the media more than he spoke to his client, and hired an investigator to interrogate his own client—among other blunders. Kachinsky’s performance is enough to elicit any number of emotions, ranging from general disappointment to downright anger. Indeed, Kachinsky himself received that full range of responses to his behavior via nasty letters, angry phone calls, and even death threats.

The public outcry condemning Kachinsky’s representation of Dassey hides a powerful and unfortunate reality: Kachinsky’s representation was constitutionally adequate pursuant to Strickland v. Washington, the Sixth Amendment’s measuring stick for attorney performance. As teachers, we often assume that satisfying a constitutional standard is equivalent to competence. But that’s simply not true in the “effective assistance” arena. The constitutional standard is well below an acceptable minimum level of attorney competence.   

Short of calls to revise or overrule Strickland, which for decades have gone unanswered, the question shifts to whether there is another way to address Strickland’s low bar. The answer is yes and law schools are particularly well situated to raise expectations for the defense bar. At present, Strickland is not sufficiently representative of what the profession—in practice—demands of professional well-regarded criminal defense attorneys.  Law schools must develop curriculum that is not tightly calibrated to Stickland but, rather, reflects true standards of acceptable competence for defense attorneys.   

Hiring Announcement: University of Connecticut School of Law

From an email message that I received earlier today:

The University of Connecticut School of Law, located in Hartford, Connecticut, is hiring one tenured or tenure-track faculty member in the area of Business Law.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

A JD or equivalent terminal degree such as a Ph.D in a relevant field (equivalent foreign degrees are acceptable); a record of scholarly work (published or in-progress) of a quality commensurate with or demonstrating the potential for tenure; a well-defined research agenda; demonstrated skills to be an effective teacher; and the ability to teach an introductory Business Organizations course.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

The completion of one or more scholarly works in the field of business law; ability to teach in one or more of the following additional areas: mergers and acquisitions, securities, compliance, corporate social responsibility, international business transactions, or commercial law.

Entry-level and lateral candidates should apply at https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/11716.  Questions can be directed to Leslie Levin, Chair of the Faculty Appointments Committee ([email protected].)

The University of Connecticut is committed to building and supporting a multicultural and diverse community of students, faculty, and staff. 

Is This an Offer I Can't Refuse?

We have all become familiar with the exclusive submission windows now available for many law reviews, but this solicitation puts a new spin on it -- the exclusive acceptance window:

Dear Dr. Steven Lubet,

Hearty wishes from EC Psychology and Psychiatry!

We have gone through your paper “Investigator bias and the PACE trial” and having known your professionalism, we thought this is the right time to approach you. So, we would like to represent EC Psychology and Psychiatry journal with a core desire to publish quality work submitted by dynamic personalities.

A glance at the following link gives you the complete perception.
link omitted

Pleased to notify you that, papers received by September 13, 2018 will be immediately subjected to processing and will be published in the subsequent issue. Therefore, without any delay we would like to accept your article submission delightfully through the below link.
link omitted

Expecting to have your potential article on time!

With Regards,
Ms. M___ C___

If you do not wish to receive any further e-mails, kindly reply as “Abolish”.

I must admit that I found "Abolish" to be a refreshing alternative to "unsubscribe," but I decided not to reply at all.

NOTE: The initial version of this post accidentally included live links to the journal; I thought I had disabled them, but I was wrong. That has now been corrected.

University of the District of Columbia Seeks Dean

This just in:

 The University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law is seeking a new dean! This link takes you to the announcement and details about the application process.  

By way of background, UDC Law began in 1972 when civil rights lawyers Edgar S. and Jean Camper Cahn brought to life a powerful idea – law school modeled on a “neighborhood law firm,” in which students from groups underrepresented at the bar learn to practice law while providing critical legal services to the underserved. Founded as the Antioch School of Law, the institution became the District’s only public law school in 1988 and merged with the nation’s only exclusively urban land-grant institution, the University of the District of Columbia, in 1996. Through its nine legal clinics, a 1L community service requirement, funded public interest summer fellowships, and credit-bearing externships, UDC Law provides more than 100,000 hours of legal services to D.C. residents annually. This commitment––and the excellence with which it is pursued––has led to a No. 2 ranking by the National Law Journal (2018) for government and public interest job placement and No. 8 for Best Clinical Training Program by U.S. News & World Report (2019). UDC Law also is recognized as one of the nation’s most diverse law schools both for our faculty and students, making it a welcoming place where students and staff of all backgrounds feel at home. Building on this history, commitment, and location in our nation’s capital, UDC Law provides a unique learning environment––as an urban land-grant institution, an HBCU, an access school dedicated to educating those previously underrepresented at the bar, and a leader in clinical legal education. We invite anyone interested in leading UDC Law forward into its next chapter to review the linked materials and consider applying to join our vibrant, social justice-oriented law school. Professors Andrew Ferguson and Wilhelmina Reuben-Cooke are chairing the search committee, which also includes Associate Deans LaShanda Adams and Matt Fraidin. Please feel free to contact any of them (or any other UDC Law faculty member) if you have any questions about the school, the deanship, or the process for applying.

Hiring Announcement: University of Missouri School of Law

From an email message that I received earlier today:

The University of Missouri School of Law invites applications for a two-year Visiting Assistant Professor (VAP) position, which is designed for promising scholars planning to pursue a career in the legal academy. Funds for this program are provided by the University’s Division for Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity.  Our VAP colleague will teach one course per semester in order to develop teaching skills while enjoying the resources and time to develop one or more substantial scholarly works. Experienced members of our faculty will provide mentorship, including extensive feedback on teaching and scholarship. The VAP will attend faculty workshops and colloquia, and will present and practice job talks in a supportive setting. The VAP will be eligible for a summer research grant between first and second years, have access to research assistants, and receive a budget for professional travel. A J.D. and an excellent academic record are required.   

The University of Missouri-Columbia is the flagship campus of the University of Missouri system and is one of only 34 public universities in the country belonging to the Association of American Universities. As both a research and land grant university, we have extraordinary opportunities for interdisciplinary research and teaching. In addition, Columbia is regularly ranked as one of the most livable cities in the country.

Application Procedure: Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. To apply, please submit a cover letter indicating teaching and scholarly interests, a CV, and three references to the university’s employment portal. For any questions about the application process, please contact Associate Dean Paul Litton at [email protected].

Additional information about the School of Law is available at www.law.missouri.edu. The University of Missouri is an equal opportunity/ADA institution and encourages applications from women, candidates of color and other under-represented communities in the legal academy. To request ADA accommodations, please call the Disability Inclusion and ADA Compliance Manager at 573-884-7278.

Anti-Semitism in the UK Labor Party

For those who have not followed the problem of resurgent anti-Semitism in the British Labor Party, Foreign Policy magazine recently published an excellent summary by James Bloodworth titled "Labour’s New Anti-Semitism Has Disturbingly Old Roots." Here is the gist:

Jeremy Corbyn is often credited with bringing new blood to the Labour Party. But it’s been exactly that influx that has mired Britain’s leading social democratic party in an ongoing crisis over anti-Semitism. Many of those drawn to the Labour Party since Corbyn’s election as leader in 2015 are not left-wingers in the traditional sense. They don’t have a set of recognizable ideological prescriptions for society but instead are driven by an essentially conspiratorial vision of how the world works.

This is not the emergence of a new left but the rise of the “cranks,” as Jade Azim has written for the activist website Labour List. The enemy is not so much capitalism as a system but a shadowy, malfeasant group of undesirables who pull the strings behind the scenes. As always, the vocabulary is the giveaway. The enemy is defined as “the elite” and “the establishment” in language sometimes indistinguishable from that of the alt-right.

This conspiratorial worldview inevitably lends itself to centuries-old tropes about Jewish power; anti-Semitism is the ultimate conspiracy theory. A mural that was removed from East London in 2012 encapsulated this outlook. It depicted hook-nosed Jewish bankers playing Monopoly on the backs of the poor below the “eye of providence,” the symbol of the Illuminati, a long-defunct Bavarian secret society that is a favorite of conspiracy theorists. Corbyn, a backbench member of parliament at the time, backed the artist responsible for the piece, writing an encouraging comment on his Facebook page.

You can read the entire article here.

 

Long Tall Sally

First released by Little Richard Penniman in 1956, Long Tall Sally is one of the most iconic and frequently covered songs in Rock n'Roll history.  According to one story, Little Richard was annoyed by Pat Boone's bland cover of Tutti Frutti, and he vowed to write a song so fast that Boone couldn't sing it.  That didn't work, as Boone did cover Long Tall Sally, but so did The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis, Led Zeppelin, and approximately every rock band that could play three chords in twelve bars (and some that couldn't).

Note: be sure to look at the last clip below.

Little Richard 

Trump, Roosevelt, and Secret Campaign Funds

In the 1904 presidential election, a number of major American corporations secretly contributed $1.5 million to Theodore Roosevelt’s reelection campaign. George Cortelyou, the GOP chairman and Roosevelt’s de facto campaign manager, aggressively solicited the corporate donations even as Roosevelt himself publicly denied that his campaign relied on corporate support. When the true story of Roosevelt’s campaign tactics began to emerge after the election, the president sanctimoniously reversed course, calling for a ban on corporate donations to federal election campaigns. In 1907 a reluctant Congress enacted the ban and it has remained in effect ever since.

On Tuesday we learned that Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign likely violated the century-old prohibition on corporate campaign contributions. The facts as currently known, however, suggest the campaign’s real motivation had to do with preserving secrecy, not amassing corporate cash.

University of Utah

We are now soliciting applications for our next dean. We’ve set up a website with all of the necessary information: https://lawdeansearch.utah.edu/.

Visiting Positions in Commercial, Business and Corporate Law (University of Pittsburgh)

The University of Pittsburgh School of Law invites applications for visiting positions beginning in the 2019-2020 academic year. Candidates should have a J.D. or equivalent degree. The School of Law will consider candidates in Commercial Law and Business/Corporate Law. 

The School of Law is located on the main campus of the University of Pittsburgh, one of the nation’s top public research universities, close to state and federal courts, major corporate headquarters, and local, national, and international law firms. The University is one of the anchor institutions of Pittsburgh, a city that has enjoyed a remarkable transformation and continues to reinvent itself as a world-class center of education, medicine, and technology.

The University of Pittsburgh is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, veteran status, disability, national origin, creed, marital status, age, gender identity or sexual orientation in its hiring.  In furtherance of our strong institutional commitment to a diverse faculty, we particularly welcome applications from minorities, women, and others who would add diversity to our faculty.  Recruitment is subject to approval by the University’s Provost. 

Contact: Grant MacIntyre, Chair, Faculty Appointments Committee, University of Pittsburgh School of Law, 3900 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15260.  Email:  macintyre@pitt.edu.   Email submissions are preferred.

Michael Cohen and John Dean

As comparisons between Michael Cohen and John Dean have become unavoidable, it is worth remembering that many Republicans initially rejected Dean's disclosures -- the equivalent of calling him a "rat" -- until the revelations in the Nixon tapes made the conclusion inescapable.

William Safire, who had been Nixon's speechwriter, eventually broke with his president after realizing that Nixon had lied. Before that, however, when he had not yet heard the tapes, Safire published the following poem excoriating John Dean, based on Rudyard Kipling's "Gunga Din." (Note the final two paragraphs.)

 

Gunga Dean

By WILLIAM SAFIRE

JUNE 18, 1973

The New York Times Archives

WASHINGTON.

 

You may talk o’ Hunt and Liddy

When you're feelin’ gay and giddy

And you think you have th’ White House in your sights,

But when your side is achin'

To prove Nixon said “Go break in”

You need an aide who sat there at the heights.

 

Now in D.C.'s sunny clime

Where I, used to spend my time

A‐servin’ of the public, sight unseen,

Of all the crewcut crew

The straightest lace I knew

Was the man in charge of ethics, Gunga Dean.

 

He was “Dean! Dean! Dean!

“You smoothie of a lawyer, keep us clean!

“With your ardor never dampened

“We'll see rectitude’ is rampant

“For no scandal can deflect us, Gunga Dean.”

Rehnquist Center

THE REHNQUIST CENTER is pleased to announce the inaugural National Conference of Constitutional Law Scholars. The conference will be held at the Westward Look Resort in Tucson, Arizona, on March 9-10, 2019. Its goal is to create a vibrant and useful forum for constitutional scholars to gather and exchange ideas each year.

David Strauss will deliver a keynote address. Distinguished commentators for 2019 include:
Jessica Bulman-Pozen
John Harrison
Aziz Huq
Gillian Metzger
Victoria Nourse
Bertrall Ross
Stephen Sachs

All constitutional law scholars are invited to attend. Those wishing to present a paper for discussion should submit a 1- to 2-page abstract by October 1, 2018. All constitutional law topics are welcome, and both emerging and established scholars are strongly encouraged to submit. Selected authors will be notified by November 1, 2018. Selected papers will be presented in small panel sessions, organized by subject, with commentary by a distinguished senior scholar. The  Rehnquist Center will provide meals for all registered conference  participants. Participants must cover travel and lodging costs. Hotel  information will be provided as the date approaches. There is a conference registration fee of $50, which will increase to $75 after February 28, 2019. Registration fees will be waived for conference presenters and for students and faculty at UA Law. In addition, a limited number of scholarships are available to those unable to attend the event otherwise.

Please send all submissions or related questions to Andrew Coan [mailto:[email protected]].
For logistical questions please contact Bernadette Wilkinson [mailto:[email protected]].

CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS
Andrew Coan, Arizona
David Schwartz, Wisconsin
Brad Snyder, Georgetown

My Reputation as an "Eminent"

Ever since I published a couple of ME/CFS articles in a peer reviewed medical journal, I have been getting solicitations from obscure journals with impressive-sounding names, some of which might be legitimate. The most recent one is from the Archives of Medical & Surgical Pathology," which I reproduce below:

Dear Dr Researcher, 

Greetings from the journal!

We are aware of your reputation for quality of research and trustworthiness in this field. With a great pleasure we would like to invite you to join editorial board of our journal “Archives of Medical & Surgical Pathology” we are very glad to have an eminent like you to guide the journal in a well-organized way.

Hoping that you will accept our invite. If you are interested, kindly send your updated C.V, Biography, Research Interests and working details for our records.

We hope you are always there to support us.

Looking forward to have your long lasting scientific relationship

Best Regards

 

 

Hiring Announcement: Pepperdine University School of Law

From an email message that I received earlier today:

PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW is seeking to fill two tenured or tenure-track positions on our faculty.  We will consider both entry level and lateral candidates.  For one position, we are seeking applicants with research and teaching interests in real estate/property law in conjunction with our Palmer Center for Entrepreneurship and the Law.  For the second position, we are seeking applicants with research and teaching interests in law and religion in conjunction with our Nootbaar Institute on Law, Religion and Ethics.  We expect that the successful candidate for each position will contribute to the leadership of the relevant center or institute.  To round out the teaching package for each position, other potential subject area needs include Community Property, Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Intellectual Property, Patents, Tax, and Wills & Trusts.

The School of Law is an ABA-accredited, AALS member law school located in Malibu, California. Pepperdine is a Christian university committed to the highest standards of academic excellence and Christian values, where students are strengthened for lives of purpose, service, and leadership. The School of Law welcomes applications from people of all faiths and is particularly interested in receiving applications from candidates who may bring greater racial, ethnic, and gender diversity to the faculty of the School of Law.  Pepperdine University is an equal opportunity employer.

Applications for the real estate/property position may be submitted here. Applications for the law and religion position may be submitted here.

For further information, please contact Professor Derek Muller, Chair, Faculty Appointments Committee, at [email protected].

Florida State University

FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LAW (FSU) has several openings for full-time tenured or tenure-track positions. Senior faculty candidates may be eligible for a named professorship. We are especially interested in individuals whose scholarship focuses on health care, commercial law, law and economics, and international law but invite applications from scholars in all fields. Candidates must demonstrate distinction or promise in both legal scholarship and law teaching. If interested, please send a Curriculum Vitae to Professor Wayne Logan, Appointments Committee Chair, Florida State University College of Law, Tallahassee, FL 32306-1601 (email:  [email protected]). FSU is an Equal Opportunity/ Access/Affirmative Action/Pro Disabled & Veteran Employer; FSU's Equal Opportunity Statement can be viewed at: http://www.hr.fsu.edu/PDF/Publications/diversity/EEO_Statement.pdf.  

The Episcopal Church and Israel

I have the below oped today in The American Prospect, coauthored with the Rev. Robert B. Clarke, an Episcopal priest.

An Encouraging Story About Falsehood

ROBERT B. CLARKE & STEVEN LUBET

AUGUST 20, 2018

• 

Like too many stories about the Middle East debate in the United States, this one starts off badly, with untruths. The conclusion, however, is almost uniquely positive and encouraging. The story begins on July 13, when the General Convention of the Episcopal Church considered a resolution criticizing Israel for violating the rights of Palestinian children. One of the most stirring moments in the debate occurred when Suffragan Bishop Gayle Harris of Massachusetts stepped up to the microphone and testified to her firsthand observation of Israeli mistreatment of young Palestinians. 

“I was there, a couple of years ago on the Temple Mount,” she said. “A three-year-old little boy, a Palestinian with his mother, was bouncing a rubber ball. The ball happened to sort of roll away from him and go over the side down to the Western Wall, otherwise known as the Wailing Wall. And immediately, Israeli soldiers camp up to the Temple Mount and attempted to put handcuffs on a three-year-old little boy—for bouncing a rubber ball.”

But that was far from the worst of it. Bishop Harris also told of witnessing an even greater atrocity. “I have been there,” she continued, “when a teenager, I think he was 15, was walking down the street and asked a military vehicle, the Israeli government, a question. And because that question was not one of the liking of those soldiers, he began to run as they threatened him, and they shot him in the back four times. He fell on the ground and they shot him another six.”

Keith Harrison

Keith Harrison died on August 15, 2018.  He was associate dean for Savannah Law School.  

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

The Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice (JCRSJ) is conducting a direct article review for submissions to our Fall 2018 Book, Volume 24, Issue 1. Any article submitted to the journal by Sunday, September 2 at 10:00 p.m. will be reviewed and evaluated before September 10. If you have submitted an article to JCRSJ previously, please resubmit your article for consideration in this direct review.

If you wish to submit an article, please e-mail an attached copy of the article, along with your CV, to [email protected]. Please include “2018 Direct Article Review” in the subject line. Thank you so much and we look forward to reviewing a number of articles.