Update: An updated version of the LA Times story is here. It mentions the op-ed but leaves out the fact of Professor Chemerinsky's patently false assertions of fact in that article. He is quoted saying, "Shouldn't we as academics be able to stand up for people on death row?"
Stand up, yes. Misrepresent facts, no.
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The blogosphere is abuzz with the news that the new law school at UC Irvine has withdrawn its offer for Erwin Chemerinsky to be its first dean. WSJ Law Blog has this post. Garrett Therolf and Henry Weinstein have this story in the LA Times.
In the WSJ post, Professor Chemerinsky is quoted as saying it is sad he was booted because of opinions he has expressed. For our part, we were sharply critical in this post of an op-ed he wrote recently. As we made very clear, though, it was not his opinions that raised our ire but his blatantly false statements of fact, statements he either knew were false or would have known were false with the most elementary checking.
I would think that, given that a law school's mission is to educate, the making of false statements about the law, knowingly or recklessly, in the mass media would simply disqualify the person making such false statements from holding a post in academia.
The bigger question is whether we need another law school at all.