The Faculty Lounge

CFP: Third Biennial Conference on Critical Trusts and Estates

Oklahoma City University School of Law will host the Third Biennial Conference on Critical Trusts and Estates  April 8-9, 2022 in Oklahoma City.  The conference provides a forum for a wide range of work dealing with connections between succession law, broadly defined, and systemic inequality.   We invite submissions of proposals for both individual papers and panels from any of a wide range of perspectives – historical, empirical, doctrinal, textual, theoretical and practical.  We especially welcome submissions from junior scholars and those who have not attended in the past.  Please send 200-300 word proposals to Phyllis Burke, at pdburk@okcu.edu by February 21, 2022.    

There is no charge to attend the conference and remote-participation options likely will be available.      

Hiring Announcement: Southern University Law Center

From an email message that I received earlier today:

Sitting at the edge of the Mississippi River, in a town known for its culinary creativity and easy-living lifestyle, Southern University Law Center (SULC) seeks applicants for at least four tenure-track appointments for its full-time faculty starting in August 2022. In addition to competitive salary and comprehensive benefits, SULC provides substantial publication support and incentives for dedicated scholars, travel stipends to present your work domestically and internationally, teaching and development resources, and supportive faculty at the ready to advance your career. 

SULC’s mission and tradition has been to provide access and opportunity to a diverse group of students from underrepresented racial, ethnic, and socio-economic groups to obtain a high quality legal education. Areas of concentration include: Common Law Contracts, Family Law, Civil Law Obligations, Constitutional Law, Criminal Procedure, Professional Responsibility, Civil Procedure, Commercial Law, Business Entities, Conflicts of Laws, Federal Courts, Trial Advocacy, Civil Law Property, Wills and Trust, Successions and Donations, Remedies, amongst others.

A candidate must have a J.D. degree from an ABA-accredited law school and a commitment to teaching in an environment dedicated to excellence in teaching and mentoring of students. We will consider both lateral and entry-level applicants. We look for innovative faculty with significant background in practice or experience teaching; dynamic scholars with an established record or promise of legal scholarship; and applicants that demonstrate a commitment to service to legal education, the institution, and to the wider community. With one of the most diverse student bodies in the country, SULC is dedicated to the aims of diversity and strongly encourages applications from women and minorities.

SULC is a member of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS). Established in 1947 in response to a lawsuit by an African-American resident seeking to attend law school at a state institution, SULC has grown to serve a widely diverse population of over 900 students. We are uniquely attuned to the importance of an education for students of all backgrounds and circumstances.

SULC offers a comprehensive benefits package to full-time faculty members that includes retirement benefits as well as health, dental, and life insurance. Salary will be commensurate with qualifications. SULC also offers full-time faculty summer research grants, travel support, and research assistants.

SULC is located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the state capital. Baton Rouge is a thriving cultural center with more than a dozen museums and cultural centers, great food and music, and a temperate climate.

Please direct any questions about the positions to Vice Chancellor Donald North at dnorth@sulc.edu.

Application Procedure:  Email a cover letter, curriculum vitae, and contact information for three professional references to applications@sulc.edu by February 15, 2022.

EMPLOYMENT NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY: SULC is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to a diverse and inclusive work environment. SULC is committed to a policy against discrimination in employment based on sex, actual or perceived gender, age, race, color, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, genetic information, or parental, marital, domestic partner, civil union, military, or veteran status.

Hiring Announcement: University of Missouri School of Law (VAP)

From an email message that I received recently:

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. We especially encourage applications from members of communities underrepresented in the legal academy. 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. is required. Candidates will be evaluated on their academic record.

The University of Missouri-Columbia is the flagship campus of the University of Missouri system and, 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 at http://hrs.missouri.edu/find-a-job/academic/. For any questions about the application process, please contact Associate Dean Paul Litton at littonp@missouri.edu.

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 underrepresented communities in the legal academy. To request ADA accommodations, please call the Disability Inclusion and ADA Compliance Manager at 573-884- 7278.

Guilt Finally Admitted, After All These Years

After many years of false denials, the supporters of Rasmea Odeh have essentially admitted her responsibility for the 1969 Jerusalem supermarket bombing that killed two Hebrew University students. Although they call the operation "resistance," per the Angela Davis quote selected to accompany the photo, rather than "terrorism," it is still an acknowledgement that the "Palestinian feminist icon" helped assemble the bomb that took two young lives.

That should not be surprising, given that she and her accomplices were quite open about the bombing, in documentaries and in print, during the years before Odeh came the United States. The Arabic language press also celebrated her as a PFLP guerrilla both before her immigration in 1995 and after her deportation to Jordan in 2017. Of course, she denied involvement in the bombing was when she was on trial in Detroit for immigration fraud. Many of her U.S. supporters no doubt believed her, despite so much evidence of her guilt. Some likely knew that she was lying, but took advantage of an opportunity for Israel bashing.

There was much less need for pretense after Odeh was deported, especially in the Arabic language press. A Jordanian newspaper reported upon her arrival at Amman's Queen Alia International Airport, "She joined the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in her youth [and] she was active in the popular resistance and then the military resistance." A Palestinian news site got the location of the bombing wrong, but was otherwise accurate, saying she "had conducted an operation in the Mahane Yehuda market, in the heart of Jerusalem, in the year 1969 that resulted in killing of [two] Israelis and inuring nine other Israelis."

There was no reason for Odeh to deny the bombing, which is a mark of honor in the PFLP, other than to fraudulently obtain and keep U.S. citizenship   As far as I can tell, however, this is the first implicit acknowledgement of her resistance/terrorism in English.

You can read all about her life -- including her coerced confession following brutalization by Israeli interrogators, and the numerous lies on her U.S. visa and naturalization applications -- in The Trials of Rasmea Odeh: How a Palestinian Guerrilla Gained and Lost U.S. Citizenship. 

The Taboo Trades Podcast is Back!

I'm so happy that the Taboo Trades podcast is back, after a hiatus

 

 

Patsy Cline

Introduced by NU Law School alumnus Tex Ritter :

Hiring Announcement: Washington University in St. Louis (John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics)

 

Updated 2/2/22 (from an email message that I received earlier today):

[A]n institutional change ... requires us to accept applications for this posting through Interfolio at this URL: http://apply.interfolio.com/102192.

 

From an email message that I received earlier today:

The John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis invites applications for one or more open rank, tenure track positions in American religion and politics. The search committee welcomes applications from scholars from a variety of fields and disciplines including, but not limited to, African and African-American Studies; Anthropology, Asian American Studies; Hispanic Studies; History; Islamic Studies; Jewish Studies; Law; Literature; Philosophy; Political Science; Religious Studies; Security Studies; Sociology; Theology; and Women/Gender/Sexuality Studies.

Areas of specialization, including disciplinary approach, chronological focus, and religious traditions studied, are open. Candidates should possess a substantial profile of scholarly publication on religion and politics in the United States with a focus on an area that significantly augments existing faculty strengths. Candidates should also have a record of effective teaching in a diverse campus community. A PhD, received no later than July 1, 2022, is required. Duties for the position will include undergraduate teaching, conducting and publishing research, and participating in Center governance and wider university service. We particularly welcome candidates with a demonstrated interest in writing for broader audiences and engaging the public beyond the university. Applications from women and members of underrepresented groups are especially encouraged. Washington University is an equal opportunity employer committed to affirmative action. To apply, send a letter of application, along with a curriculum vitae, to the following e-mail address: rap@wustl.edu. A list of three references should also be submitted, along with a scholarly writing sample. Nominations may be sent to the same address. The search committee will begin reviewing applications as early as March 15, 2022, and will continue doing so until the search is complete. For more information, see http://rap.wustl.edu/.

Richard S. Dunn (1928-2022)

Professor Richard S. Dunn passed away on January 24, 2022. He was a historian specializing 17th and 18th century America. He had taught for decades at the University of Pennsylvania. He wrote Puritans and Yankees: The Winthrop Dynasty of New England, 1630-1717 (1962), The Age of Religious Wars, 1559-1715 (1971), Sugar and Slaves: The Rise of the Planter Class in the English West Indies, 1624-1713 (1972), four volumes on William Penn for University of Pennsylvania Press, and A Tale of Two Plantations: Slave Life and Labor in Virginia and Jamaica (2014). After his wife passed away (Mary Maples-Dunn a distinguished historian and former President of Smith College), he was living in Winston-Salem, NC. Last time I saw, he was video on Sugar and Slaves on its 50th anniversary.  Boston Globe has his obituary. And the Philadelphia Inquirer.

He was a great man.

Hiring Announcement: Duke University Law School

From an email message that I received this week:

Duke University:

Duke University was created in 1924 through an indenture of trust by James Buchanan Duke. Today, Duke is regarded as one of America’s leading research universities. Located in Durham, North Carolina, Duke is positioned in the heart of the Research Triangle, which is ranked annually as one of the best places in the country to work and live. Duke has more than 15,000 students who study and conduct research in its 10 undergraduate, graduate and professional schools. With about 40,000 employees, Duke is the third largest private employer in North Carolina, and it now has international programs in more than 150 countries.

Duke University Law School
Center for Firearms Law
Center Director
(Director, Academic Center, Law School; Level 15; 2190)

Job Description
Occupational Summary
Launched in early 2019, the Duke Center for Firearms Law aims to be the primary center for the development and dissemination of reliable scholarships on legal issues relating to firearms, gun rights and regulation, and the Second Amendment. It is committed to an ambitious program of scholarship development, mentoring of scholars and fellows, colloquia, symposia, and other programming. The Center organizes and hosts conferences, shapes, and encourages scholars and scholarship, develops teaching materials, and generally serves as the hub for firearms law scholarship in the United States. Its goals are to continue developing firearms law as a scholarly field, and developing resources that lawyers, policy makers, and the interested layperson can use to develop fully informed opinions on firearms law and policy.

The Center Executive Director will provide direction and administrative oversight to all Center activities in concert with the Law School Dean and the Center’s faculty directors, Joseph Blocher and Darrell A. H. Miller.

Work Performed

• Initiate efforts to galvanize and synthesize research on issues involving firearms law.  Facilitate, create, and assist research into legal issues relating to firearms, gun rights and regulation, and the Second Amendment, including assisting faculty and students in furthering research interests in particular topic areas. (25%)
• Support, collect, and publish research on firearms law and policy, including through running the Center’s blog.  Serve as a resource to journalists and other public and private sector decision makers on firearms law and policy. (30%)
• Organize conferences, symposia, and colloquia of interest to academics, private sector leaders, and government decision makers. (15%)
• Establish and maintain contacts with outside organizations such as government agencies, professional organizations, law firms and other law schools to aid in achieving overall program objectives. (10%)
• Develop grant proposals to support Center research and conferences.  Participate as key personnel on grants, coordinate with relevant personnel on financial reporting, and prepare progress and final narrative reports. (5%)
• Participate in and help organize civic education and other legal policy projects. (5%)
• Develop teaching materials for courses and seminars on legal issues related to firearms law and policy. (5%)
• Provide staff leadership. Recommend various personnel actions including, but not limited to, hiring, performance appraisal, promotions, transfers, and vacation schedules. (5%)

Iowa Law Faculty Fellowship

The University of Iowa College of Law seeks applicants for the Iowa Law Faculty Fellowship.  This program provides research and teaching opportunities, faculty mentoring, and career development for promising legal scholars and teachers aiming to launch new careers in legal academia.  The program also aims to further the College of Law’s and the University of Iowa’s longstanding goals of increasing diversity in the legal profession and recruiting and retaining a more diverse campus community of faculty, staff, and students.  (For information on the College’s DEI commitments and activities, see Diversity, Equity & Inclusion | College of Law - The University of Iowa (uiowa.edu). For information on the University’s DEI commitments and activities, see Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion | The University of Iowa (uiowa.edu).) 

Iowa Law is well known for its strong focus on law teaching, exceptionally comprehensive law library, and collaborative atmosphere.  The University of Iowa itself is a major public research university located in Iowa City, a quintessential college town brimming with writers, students, and scholars.   

The Iowa Law Faculty Fellowship is a successor to the Faculty Fellows program, which provided aspiring legal academics with an opportunity to develop their scholarship and teaching, and ultimately seek long-term academic positions. Iowa Law Faculty Fellows concentrate on those aspects of academic life that are most likely to be helpful in preparing for a faculty career in legal education.  Typically, faculty fellows teach one course during the academic year, with the remainder of the fellow’s time devoted to research and development of one or more major works of scholarship.  The Iowa Law Faculty Fellowship does not have a specific subject matter focus, but prioritizes applicants who seek to conduct interdisciplinary research that connects with other fields of study at the University of Iowa.  The fellow works closely with a faculty mentor and advisory team of faculty members.  Faculty fellows participate in the life of the College, but have limited service assignments so they can concentrate on teaching and scholarship.  Fellows are expected to contribute to diversity, equity, and inclusion goals at the College and University.   

Initial Faculty Fellowship appointments are for one year and can be renewed once.  Fellows will be appointed at the rank of Visiting Assistant Professor of Law.  Most Faculty Fellows will serve for two years and participate in the law hiring market during the second year of the fellowship.  The salary for the 2022-2023 academic year will be competitive with well-regarded law fellowship and VAP programs.  In addition, Faculty Fellows will be provided with research support including research funds, travel funds, and the opportunity to hire law student research assistants.  Fellows will be expected to be in full-time residence at Iowa Law during the academic year.

To apply for the Iowa Law Faculty Fellowship program, an applicant should submit the following through Jobs@Iowa, at jobs.uiowa.edu (refer to requisition #74372):

• Cover letter, including a description of the applicant’s (1) research plan to be carried out during the fellowship and (2) plans for contributing to diversity, equity and inclusion goals at the College and University during the fellowship.
• C.V.
• Graduate, and professional transcripts (including law school transcripts)
• Academic writing sample
• Three letters of reference providing support for the applicant’s potential as a legal scholar and teacher

Required qualifications:

• J.D. or equivalent, or a Ph.D. from a relevant field of study. 
• Strong potential for legal teaching
• Strong potential for legal scholarship
• Strong potential for making contributions to the College’s and University’s diversity, equity, and inclusion goals
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills

Desired qualifications:

• Demonstrated ability to conduct interdisciplinary research
• Alignment between the proposed research plan and collegiate and university resources and opportunities.

Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled.  For fullest consideration, submit applications before February 25, 2022.  For more information, please contact Todd Pettys, chair of the Faculty Appointments Committee, at todd-pettys@uiowa.edu.

The University of Iowa is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment free from discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, age, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, religion, associational preference, status as a qualified individual with a disability, or status as a protected veteran. The University also affirms its commitment to providing equal opportunities and equal access to University facilities. Women and Minorities are encouraged to apply for all employment vacancies. For additional information on nondiscrimination policies, contact the Office of Institutional Equity, 319/335-0705, The University of Iowa, 202 Jessup Hall, Iowa City, Iowa, 52242-1316.  Persons with disabilities may contact University Human Resources/Faculty and Staff Disability Services, (319) 335-2660 or fsds@uiowa.edu, to inquire or discuss accommodation needs.  Prospective employees may review the University Campus Security Policy and the latest annual crime statistics by contacting the Department of Public Safety at 319/335-5022.

Another Terrorist Icon becomes a Cause Célèbre

I have an essay today on The Hill about the hostage taking at Colleyville and demands for the release of terrorist icons. Here is the gist:

The Hill

Another terrorist icon becomes a cause célèbre

When Malik Faisal Akram took four hostages at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, he was not the first terrorist to seek the release of Aafia Siddiqui from her 86-year sentence in a federal penitentiary. Siddiqui, an American-educated Pakistani neuroscientist, became a cause célèbre among militants worldwide following her 2010 conviction for shooting at American military personnel in Afghanistan. Al Qaeda’s Ayman al-Zawahiri demanded Siddiqui’s freedom in exchange for a kidnapped USAID worker, as did ISIS in exchange for American journalist James Foley, who was later beheaded. The Taliban made multiple attempts to trade British and Swiss prisoners for her.

Siddiqui is not the only terrorists’ icon whose cause has been adopted by American progressives. In 1970, Rasmea Odeh was convicted in Israel for a Jerusalem supermarket bombing that killed two university students. Sentenced to life in prison for murder, her freedom was repeatedly demanded by Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) operatives, including the perpetrators of the Munich Olympics massacre and the hijackers of an Israeli airliner. In 1979, Odeh and 75 other Palestinians were freed in an exchange with the PFLP for an Israeli soldier held captive in Lebanon.

As I detail in my new book, “The Trials of Rasmea Odeh: How a Palestinian Guerrilla Gained and Lost U.S. Citizenship,” Odeh made her way to the United States in 1995, becoming a naturalized citizen in 2004.

Odeh’s murder conviction should have barred her from citizenship, or even entering the U.S., but she lied about it on her visa and naturalization applications. She answered “No” to numerous questions on both forms about past crimes, convictions and imprisonment, as well as at an in-person interview, while successfully concealing her membership in the PFLP. Odeh might well have continued living peacefully and productively in Chicago, had her criminal background not been coincidentally discovered during an FBI investigation of one of her coworkers.

But neither Siddiqui nor Odeh ever sought forgiveness, opting instead to indulge anti-Jewish conspiracy theories as the source of their troubles. Siddiqui frequently interrupted her trial with anti-Semitic outbursts, demanding genetic tests to see if any jurors were Jewish. At sentencing, she shouted “This verdict is coming from Israel, not America.”

Odeh’s defense committee posed its own conspiracy theory about the enforcement of U.S. immigration law, charging the prosecutors with “doing the bidding of Israel.” Her attorney, from Chicago’s legendary Peoples Law Office, was only somewhat more circumspect, repeatedly arguing without evidence that the case, initiated and pursued by the Obama administration, was “politically motivated [by] prejudice against Muslim people fueled by the Israeli lobby.”

Colleyville’s Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker said that Akram likewise “thought that Jews control the world,” which evidently led him to believe that attacking a small suburban synagogue could force freedom for Siddiqui. Perhaps that was because he’d heard so many tales of Israel’s sinister power over America, spread by those with scant regard for Jewish lives.

The essay is not paywalled. You can read the entire piece here.

Hiring Announcement: UMKC School of Law

From an email message that I received earlier this week:

UMKC School of Law Seeks Applications and Nominations for the Douglass Stripp/Missouri Professorship in Advocacy

The University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law seeks applicants or nominations for the Douglass Stripp/Missouri Professorship in Advocacy. This person will be a key leader in the school’s nationally-recognized advocacy program. The School of Law’s strong commitment to outstanding advocacy started in 1895 when the school was founded by judge and lawyers in Kansas City. The School of Law seeks candidates to build on that history through community engagement, teaching and curriculum development, research and collaboration with other disciplines, and organizing regional or national symposia.

Candidates may be lateral from another academic institution or experienced lawyers or judges. The position is for a 9-month appointment and is full-time with benefits. Subject-matter for teaching is flexible, but should include advocacy courses and leadership of the school’s appellate advocacy program. The School of Law seeks candidates with a strong commitment to educating a diverse group of lawyers, and those who will actively participate in our collegial, collaborative community. We especially welcome applications from candidates who would add diversity to our faculty.

Requirements: Candidates must have a Juris Doctor degree from a program accredited by the American Bar Association, or an equivalent degree, and at least 7 years experience in advocacy and/or teaching.

Hiring Announcement: Faulkner University, Thomas Goode Jones School of Law

From an email message that I recently received:

Faulkner University’s Thomas Goode Jones School of Law (Montgomery, AL) invites entry-level or junior-level applications for a legal research and writing faculty position, beginning in Fall 2022. Materials should be submitted online at www.faulkner.edu/jobs. Questions may be addressed to Professor Layne Keele at lkeele@faulkner.edu.

Gorsuch Goes Bare

I have a new essay on NBC News about Justice Gorsuch's decision to go maskless on the SCOTUS bench. Here is the gist:

The justices seldom respond directly to media reports. But this time, Sotomayor and Gorsuch quickly issued a joint statement denying the NPR story. "Reporting that Justice Sotomayor asked Justice Gorsuch to wear a mask ... is false,” they said, adding, “we are warm colleagues and friends.” Roberts soon issued his own statement, explaining that he “did not request Justice Gorsuch or any other Justice to wear a mask on the bench.”

That may get Gorsuch off the hook for refusing a direct request, but it does not explain his churlish insistence on staying unmasked when everyone around him is masking up. In fact, the focus on whether Gorsuch was or wasn’t asked to wear a face covering misses the point: He shouldn’t have had to be asked in the first place.

Consideration for colleagues should be gracious, voluntary and unbidden. The Code of Conduct for United States Judges says as much, calling upon judges to be “respectful and courteous” toward everyone “with whom the judge deals in an official capacity,” including fellow judges. What could be more discourteous than knowingly causing a coworker so much discomfort that she leaves the room?

Gorsuch has voted against almost every Covid prevention measure that has come before his court, including the two recent federal vaccine mandate cases. Other than at the court, he is still subject to the District of Columbia’s regulations requiring masks in all indoor public locations, including stores, theaters, businesses, schools, houses of worship, restaurants and ride share vehicles. Perhaps it was his small act of resistance or personal liberation to appear maskless in a venue where he is literally above the law.

It’s good to know that Gorsuch and Sotomayor remain colleagues and warm friends. But let it be said: Friends don’t let friends risk catching Covid.

You can read the entire piece here.

Washburn Seeks Legal Writing VAP

Washburn University School of Law invites applicants for a visiting assistant professor for the 2022-23 academic year to teach legal writing. The position could convert to a tenure track position after the 2022-23 academic year depending on budget and curricular needs. If the position converts to a tenure track position, a national search will be conducted, and the incumbent visiting assistant professor will be eligible to apply.  We seek engaging candidates who value and demonstrate a commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and to pursuing teaching excellence at Washburn University, including a dedication to developing inclusive teaching practices. 

Washburn University is a teaching-focused, student-centered, public institution located in the metropolitan setting of Topeka. The university has earned national recognition for its high-impact programs for first-generation students. Washburn has a student body of over 5,500 undergraduate, graduate, and law students, a significant and growing number of whom are first-generation and Pell-Grant eligible. The University has created educational pathways for all students to be successful and achieve their educational goals. 

The Washburn campus is located in the heart of Topeka, Kansas, blocks from the historic state capitol. Topeka features affordable housing; beautiful, historic neighborhoods filled with well-maintained parks; and a nationally recognized public library. It is also the home of the Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Site. 

Washburn University School of Law is committed to diversity in its faculty and encourages applicants whose backgrounds will enrich the law school. We offer competitive wages, an excellent benefits program, a supportive leadership team, and a healthy work/life balance. At Washburn, we strive to ensure a campus climate that supports the success of every employee and appreciates the unique skills and expertise each contributes to serving our students. 

Required Qualifications: 

• JD degree from an ABA-approved law school.
• A demonstrated commitment to developing inclusive teaching practices that engage students from diverse backgrounds.
  

Preferred Qualifications:

• Candidates with a record of effective teaching and published legal scholarship.
  

Responsibilities:

• Teach a full load of first-year legal writing course sections. This visitor will fulfill the teaching expectations associated with the appointment as a visiting assistant professor and as outlined in the faculty handbook.
• If the position is converted to a tenure-track appointment, and the incumbent is hired into the tenure track position, the professor will be responsible for fulfilling all expectations associated with a tenure-track appointment, including scholarship, service and teaching a full workload as outlined in the faculty handbook.
• This visitor will fulfill service expectations by engaging in service activities in the department, university, and profession.

Application Procedures:

Application review will begin January 25, 2022, and continue until the position is filled. (All faculty appointments are contingent upon funding.)

• Interested candidates should send a resume, a cover letter and the names/addresses/phone numbers of three professional references to facultytalent@washburn.eduand include “Visiting Assistant Professor, Legal Writing” on the subject line.
• If you have questions about the position, please contact Professor Emily Grant, via email at emily.grant@washburn.edu
• The successful candidate will be required to submit to a background check prior to hire.
• Official transcripts are required once hired.

Washburn is an EOE and is dedicated to providing a student-centered and teaching-focused academic and work environment. We seek candidates who are committed to Washburn’s efforts to create a campus climate that fosters the growth and development of a diverse student body, and we encourage applications from members of groups that have been historically underrepresented and/or marginalized in higher education.

Washburn University provides equal access to and opportunity in its programs, facilities, and employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, veteran status, or marital or parental status.

The full hiring ad is here.

Superstition

Judge VanDyke's "Alternative Draft Opinion"

Today's National Law Journal features an article here (access via Lexis; sorry) about an "alternative opinion" written by Judge Lawrence VanDyke of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in McDougall v. County of Ventura. A 3-judge panel, including Judge VanDyke, reversed the district court’s order dismissal of a challenge to the county's 48-day COVID-related closure of gun shops, ammunition shops and firing ranges. Curiously, Judge VanDyke wrote a concurrence to his own opinion, reaching the same results but for different reasons.  Why did he do this? Judge VanDyke writes:

I agree wholeheartedly with the majority opinion, which is not terribly surprising since I wrote it. But I write separately to make two additional points. The first is simply to predict what happens next. I’m not a prophet, but since this panel just enforced the Second Amendment, and this is the Ninth Circuit, this ruling will almost certainly face an en banc challenge. This prediction follows from the fact that this is always what happens when a three-judge panel upholds the Second Amendment in this circuit.

I'm a big fan of "showing not telling" how the legal outcomes or reasoning of cases [or both] could have been different [or the same], using the same law and facts in effect at the time of the original opinion.  After all, that's the whole point of the Feminist Judgments projects at various stages in Canada, England & Wales, Australia, the U.S. (a series of books!), Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand, India, Pakistan and Mexico. There's also a pan-African Feminist Judgments Project and an International Law Feminist Judgments project, with other multi-national projects in the works. 

I don't think Judge VanDyke likely has on his bookshelf a copy of Feminist Judgments: Rewritten Opinions of the United States Supreme Court (Cambridge 2016), edited by Kathy Stanchi, Linda Berger and me.  All the same, Judge VanDyke's stated reasons for writing an "alternative opinion" resonate:

A judge or group of judges must first write a call memo, and then, if the en banc call is successful, the en banc majority must write a new opinion. Since our court’s Second Amendment intermediate scrutiny standard can reach any result one desires, I figure there is no reason why I shouldn’t write an alternative draft opinion that will apply our test in a way more to the liking of the majority of our court. That way I can demonstrate just how easy it is to reach any desired conclusion under our current framework, and the majority of our court can get a jump-start on calling this case en banc. Sort of a win-win for everyone. To better explain the reasoning and assumptions behind this type of analysis, my “alternative” draft below will contain footnotes that offer further elaboration (think of them as “thought-bubbles”).

Judge VanDyke's ending his concurring opinion with “You’re welcome” might have been gratuitous, but I'm fascinated by this development. This is the first real-time "rewritten opinion" by a sitting judge that I have come across. Is anyone aware of other instances of judges writing and publishing "alternate opinions"?

Constructive comments only.

Ohio State lateral hiring announcement in Tax or Tax and Business Law

The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law seeks lateral candidates for at least one tenure-track position. We are considering hiring a junior to mid-career lateral candidate for a position in the area of Tax Law or in both Business and Tax Law.  More information here:  Download Ohio State.

Lonnie Brown Named Dean of Tennessee Law

University of Tennessee College of Law has announced that Lonnie T. Brown, Jr., the Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor and A. Gus Cleveland Distinguished Chair of Legal Ethics and Professionalism at the University of Georgia School of Law, will become its next dean.  He holds a JD from Vanderbilt.  Brown will take over on July 1, 2022.

More on the Unsupported Charges of Anti-Semitism in DEI Offices [UPDATED]

I have a followup essay at Social Science Space.

[UPDATE: this essay has now been cross-posted on the AAUP's Academe Blog.]

There Is No Proof of Rampant Anti-Semitism in University Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Offices

Published on 01/19/2022  by Steven Lubet

The right-wing Heritage Foundation has accused university Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) offices of spreading anti-Semitism on campuses, but its recently  issued report does not back up the claim. Although Heritage touts the study, titled Inclusion Delusion: The Antisemitism of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Staff at Universities, as revealing that “an overwhelming number of DEI hires are spewing antisemitic views about Israel on social media,” it is actually an instance of selective data presentation in support of a conservative cause.

The study’s authors claim that DEI offices not only fail to protect the interests of Jewish student, but instead “foment” anti-Semitism and “may be contributing to an increase in anti-Jewish hatred.” While certain DEI advocates have been inexcusably dismissive of Jewish students and faculty, sometimes veering into negative stereotypes and even overt hostility, the study’s methodology does not begin to establish its overheated assertion that “political activism of DEI staff may help explain the rising frequency of antisemitic incidents” on campuses.

The Heritage study began by identifying 2,933 DEI personnel at 65 major U.S. universities, of whom 741 had publicly accessible Twitter accounts. Those accounts were then searched for tweets, retweets, and likes that evinced, as the report put it, “anti-Israel attitudes that are so out of proportion and imbalanced as to constitute antisemitism.”

The researchers ultimately found 605 tweets with extraordinarily harsh statements about Israel, a phenomenon that may indeed coincide with anti-Semitism. Many such tweets threw down a new twist on an ancient blood libel, as in “israel (sic) has a particular loathing for children. they target them with violence specifically and intentionally every single day.”

Another charged,

Y’all love to add the word liberal in front of the most evil things and it’s unhingedddd. Wtf is a liberal Zionist? What’s next? Liberal Nazi? Liberal colonizer? Liberal murderer? Liberal imperialist? Liberal fascist?

And a third threatened, “‘from the river to the sea’ means that we will decolonize every block and every grain of sand in palestine (sic).”

In contrast to all that condemnation, there were only 28 tweets favorable to Israel, some of them only mildly so. But the imbalance does not tell the whole story, because the most important information is strangely missing from the report.

In a study of anti-Semitism among DEI personal, the most significant figure would be the number or proportion of biased staffers, not the ratio of nasty tweets. And yet, as I have explained in The Forward, the Heritage report never tells us whether the 605 troubling tweets were generated by a single person tweeting almost 600 times, by 30 DEI officers tweeting 20 times apiece, or by 300 personnel tweeting only twice each.

Although the Heritage website claims to have documented an “overwhelming pattern” of anti-Semitism – a conclusion repeated in media reports – there may well be no pattern at all. If it turns out that only a handful of DEI personnel were responsible for nearly all of the Israel bashing – which can hardly be ruled out, given the profound enmity toward Israel of some progressives – the modal number of angry tweets per staffer could easily be zero.