Trump is targeting law firms and academia. Why don't they speak up? - Chemerinsky WaPo

President Donald Trump is trying to intimidate his critics into silence. And, sadly, it is working. I saw this firsthand when I urged deans of law schools to sign a three-paragraph statement that concluded, “We … speak as legal educators, responsible for training the next generation of lawyers, in condemning any government efforts to punish lawyers or their firms based on the identity of their clients or for their zealous lawful and ethical advocacy.”

Although there was not a controversial word in the statement, only 79 of the 197 deans signed it before it was published March 26. Most notably, deans of many of the most prestigious law schools — Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Chicago, Penn, Virginia, Duke, Michigan, Columbia, NYU, Northwestern — did not sign. From the “elite” schools traditionally included in the top 14 ranked by U.S. News and World Report, only the deans of Cornell, Georgetown and UCLA joined Berkeley in this statement.

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Where is the statement from managing partners of major law firms condemning executive orders that blatantly say their purpose is retribution against law firms? In fact, I have been told by managing partners at some law firms, both large and small, that very few of the largest law firms are signing on to a friend of the court brief in support of Perkins Coie, targeted because it once represented Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign.

Our political leaders, too, have been remarkably silent. Former president Barack Obama has not been heard from. Nor has former president Bill Clinton. The top Democratic leaders in Congress, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, have spoken out occasionally but have not been heard condemning the targeting of universities and law firms.

Gathering signatures for our letter, I heard several rationalizations for why deans would not sign. More than one said things were not “bad enough” yet to warrant speaking out. I do not share that characterization while the administration violates the Constitution by moving to eliminate federal agencies, refusing to spend money appropriated by statute, trying to end birthright citizenship, cutting funds for universities, deporting people without due process and punishing law firms for the sake of retribution. It makes me wonder what would be bad enough for those deans and whether their delayed protests might be too late to make a difference. Also, if things get worse, the pressure for silence will only increase.

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More important, though, is to realize that despite the risks of speaking out, silence itself comes as at enormous cost. Giving in to a bully only makes things worse.

Erwin Chemerinsky is the dean of the Berkeley School of Law at the University of California.

https://wapo.st/42lAxGB

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