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LawSchoolClincs 3 - 09 Apr 2010 - Main.SaswatMisra
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| | I grabbed this from the Law School Links thread - I think it's a particularly pertinent topic given that 1Ls are applying for clinics right now and that it deserves its own thread
The perils of state-funded public interest work? | | | | |
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< | One way to look at this (i.e., the "New York Times way") is as an example of a powerful private party, Perdue, using its influence to skirt justice and trample academic freedom. But how far should “academic freedom” extend? Does this freedom grant universities the unchecked right to use tax payer money to initiate lawsuits against corporations and families as they see fit? The husband and wife team that runs the small time farm referred to in the article is probably not wealthy, and may not be able to hire lawyers to best represent their interests (Perdue’s interests may or may not line-up with theirs). | >
> | One way to look at this (i.e., portrayed in the article) is as an example of a powerful private party, Perdue, using its influence to skirt justice and trample academic freedom. But how far should “academic freedom” extend? Does this freedom grant universities the unchecked right to use tax payer money to initiate lawsuits against corporations and families as they see fit? The husband and wife team that runs the small farm referred to in the article is probably not wealthy, and may not be able to hire lawyers to best represent their interests (Perdue’s interests may or may not line-up with theirs). | | | | |
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< | Before the University screams “academic freedom,” I think it owes us an explanation of how it chooses its clients. If the clinic is run in a way that actually respects academic freedom, the administrators of the clinic should have no trouble showing that, over time, they have represented a wide range of clients and ideologies (at least some of which should be diametrically opposed to each other). The University apparently has not been able to do this. | >
> | Before the University claims “academic freedom,” I think it owes us an explanation of how it chooses its clients. If the clinic is run in a way that truly respects academic freedom, the administrators of the clinic should have no trouble showing that, over time, they have represented a wide range of clients and ideologies (at least some of which should be diametrically opposed to each other). The University apparently has not been able to do this. | | | | |
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< | Although it is easy to view Perdue as the morally-deficient party here, I think that there is just as much room for corruption on the part of the University of Maryland (or any other University). Therefore, I think it is legitimate for the legislature to try to assess the methodology by which the University of Maryland's clinics are run. Is the University simply filing lawsuits that will make for interesting job interview talks for its students, or for after-work drinks on the Harbor? Are these lawsuits being "green-lighted" based on the ideology of a small number of administrators who run the clinic? | >
> | Although it is easy to view Perdue as the morally-deficient party here, I think that there is just as much room for corruption on the part of the University of Maryland (or any other university). Therefore, I think it is legitimate for the legislature to try to assess the methodology by which the clinics are run. Is the University simply filing lawsuits that will make for interesting job interview talks for its students, and for after-work drinks on the Harbor? Are these lawsuits being "green-lighted" based on the ideology of a small number of administrators who run the clinic? | | | | |
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< | @Nathan – I think that the University plays the opposite role here as does in the case of military recruiting on-campus. In military recruiting, it is the outside party (i.e., the federal government) that forces its (mostly unwanted) voice and presence onto an academic institution under the threat of severe monetary sanctions. In the present case, I think it is the academic institution (the University of Maryland) that forces its (mostly unwanted) voice and presence onto the outside party (the small time farmer, and others like him), at the threat of monetary sanctions. | >
> | @Nathan – I wonder if the University plays the opposite role here as does in the case of military recruiting on-campus? In military recruiting, I think it is the outside party (i.e., the federal government) that forces its mostly unwanted voice and presence onto an academic institution under the threat of monetary sanctions. In the present case, I think it is the academic institution (the University of Maryland) that forces its mostly unwanted voice and presence onto an outside party (the small farmer, and others like him), under the threat of monetary sanctions. | | | | |
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< | By the way – I am a fan of the New York Times and the Environment. I also enjoyed my four years at University of Maryland…. | >
> | By the way - I am a fan of the New York Times, the environment, and the University of Maryland | | | -- SaswatMisra - 08 Apr 2010 |
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