Law Schools vs. Dissenting Views

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Dec 20, 1999 | by Aimee Howd

Has this made Wiener a lightning rod? "It's better for students to be absolutely out front. It's the ones who show weakness, who show that they can be intimidated, that have the hardest time," says Phillip Johnson, a Boalt Hall professor who says Wiener's "dignified protest" gave voice to unspoken concerns of many faculty as well.

And Catherine Bailey, president of Boalt Hall's Federalist Society, says she has little time for those who are afraid to speak their minds until the intolerance goes away. "If you're too chicken to raise your hand in class you might not make a good attorney," she says.

Certainly Bailey has a point. "In the last analysis, the law is what the lawyers are," commented Felix Frankfurter. nd the law and the lawyers are what the law schools make them." Unless, of course, the lawyers are able to make something of themselves, against the odds.