Scott Wilbur Jailed?

Apparently, Scott Wilbur has been busted. Or so sayeth Claremont Currents.

Ten bucks to the first guy to visit him in prison and get the story on why he hates on Maria Klawe.

Bloggingheads.tv Mentions Sarah Palin's Chuck DeVore CMC '85 Poor Endorsement of Fiorina

Annie Lowrey of The Washington Independent and Conn Carroll of The Heritage Foundation describe the fallout of Sarah Palin's poor endorsement of Carly Fiorina.

Indeed: If you are gonna go off and endorse Doug Hoffman in New York 23, why not hedge your bets here and go with DeVore? Or better yet: why endorse at all?

Advice for Republican Senators and Professors Rossum, Pomona Professors Weigh in On Obama Pick

I think the idea that her politics aren't going to be disclosed because she has said relatively few things publicly is likely to be disproved in the coming weeks. She likely has some kind of politicized email or story that could be trudged out by Harvard's legions of bloggers, writers, and partisans.

If there is any entity in the history of human existence as gossipy as a college campus, I have yet to find it.

As Exhibit A, take the scenario unfolding in the Harvard Law School "blacks possibly may have low IQ" issue. If I understand it correctly, a bunch of HLS students were discussing a matter of scientific import and what explains low achievement, where a student speculated that it might well be possible that blacks as a group might have genetically lower IQs. That email was, in turn, leaked to the public (curiously around the same time as courtships came out!)

If you ask me, the whole things seems rather reminiscent of that famous scene in The Lives of Others in which the young East German is threatened with his whole career being jeopardized over a lunchtime joke.

If the Senators want to score a victory for the freedom of students to think and converse openly without reprisal, they ought to ask Ms. Kagan her views on the whole affair and whether they think it's appropriate for law school deans to publicly attack students for intellectual honesty.

The Republican Senators are likely to lose any attempts at filibustering Dean Kagan. But they should put the question to her anyways, especially if Kagan's selection is a fait accompli. Kagan would be put in the unfortunate position (for her) of arguing that her sucesssor's conduct was unbecoming of a law school dean or of trying to defend it. It would put her in the hotseat and would put her in the uncomfortable position of discussing free speech issues that affect the place in our society most in need of free speech -- the university.

Yes, I know that Kagan has been known as being "friendly" to conservative scholars and the like, but we should expect nothing less. That this is newsworthy is all the more troubling because it means we have come to expect and accept that administrators ought to be thuggish. Paul over at Powerline rightly notes having reservations about anyone who rises to the level of a top administrator at a place so hostile to free speech.

Anyways, here are ours professors' comments on Solicitor General Kagan.

From yesterday's Contra Costa Times:

. . .

At the time President Richard Nixon nominated William Rehnquist to the court, he was assistant attorney general for the office of legal counsel, said Ralph Rossum, professor of government at Claremont McKenna College.

Earl Warren came to the court with executive experience having served two terms as governor of California and no experience as a judge, he said.

"It's only in the past 30 years (justices) have come off the U.S. courts," Rossum said.

Lack of experience as a judge hasn't hurt Supreme Court justices in the past, said Doskow [Dean of La Verne Law School].

"Some of the greatest judges haven't had experience" on the bench, Doskow said. "It's a false issue if you think it's an issue."

While experience as a judge is useful, having justices with executive or political experience brings a different perspective to the job, Rossum said.

"I think Obama is on the right track here," Rossum said.

. . .

Kagan is known as someone who is sharp and politically savvy in addition to having a blazing legal career. She was the first female dean of Harvard Law School and the first woman to serve as solicitor general.

Kagan brings to the bench intelligence and the ability to build consensus, Doskow said.

Plus, "she's been thoroughly vetted," he said. "She's been through the mill and there is no reason for people to be concerned about her."

Because Kagan hasn't been a judge, there's little in the way of written material to review to get a feel for her philosophical views, said Justin Crowe, professor of political science at Williams College in western Massachusetts, whose expertise is the Supreme Court.

"Obviously the president expects a left-leaning judge," said Crowe, a former professor at Pomona College.

"They say every time there is one new justice it changes the court," Doskow said, adding there may be a slight change because the court would be made up of three women.

Other than that, the balance will be much the same because Kagan is "going to lean in the direction of the justice she's replacing."

Pomona College professor of politics David Menefee-Libey said: "She a fairly moderate liberal who is going to move the court slightly to the right."

But there may be some on the left "who might be uneasy" with Kagan because of her views of presidential authority, Crowe said.

She is likely to get some criticism from groups such as the American Constitutional Society because she is "someone more open to the power of the president, the executive branch," Menefee-Libey said.

Still Kagan is a bridge builder, a good politician "in the good sense," Crowe said.

"Conservatives and liberals alike know her as someone who can reach across the divide," he said.

As dean of Harvard Law School, she did good work bringing on faculty with differing views and has shown the "capacity to reach across the aisle," Rossum said.

Her role on the court will be to create a bridge between the liberal and conservative justices, Crowe said.

Stevens is seen as someone who was able to influence justice Anthony Kennedy and Kagan may be able to do the same, he said. She may do that through her persuasive ability, her intelligence or her congeniality.

"She's known to be very persuasive," Crowe said. "Some hope that's what she'll do. Justice Kennedy will remain the swing vote."

While many have talked about having three women on the Supreme Court or different religious backgrounds, Rossum said there is something else to consider.

If Kagan is appointed, all of the justices will come from either Yale or Harvard law schools.

Rossum questions whether there is much difference among the justice and at this stage "they look pretty homogenous."

During the hearings "she's going to get roughed up a bit," Rossum said.

Republicans will "use her own words against her," he said. "But at the end of the day the Republicans won't have enough votes to filibuster."

Having served in the Clinton administration and gone before the Judiciary Committee for her appointment as solicitor general, "she probably has thick skin," Menefee-Libey said.

My Obligatory "Forrest Gump" Elena Kagan Mention

As some of you know, I worked for Alan Dershowitz at Harvard Law School in high school. Without a doubt, it was one of the best jobs I've had and I've had quite a few. For a kid who loved to read and make money, it sure beat the sheet rocking/painting/construction/carpentry I had done with my dad or working during the hot summers. It was air-conditioned and I found the work amenable and interesting.

Anyways, I often checked out library books from Harvard's magnificent system and I would routinely eat the cheap soup from the cafeteria. All things considered, it was a great job, where I learned much and it remains the closest to a law school that I ever plan to get! (I felt sometimes as I imagine Lincoln did going to the debate against Douglas at Knox College, climbing through a window, "at last I have been to college.")

I worked a lot as a research assistant but in the evenings I would often walk around the campus and attend lectures or events. During the summertime, I often attended lectures on campus, but more often than not when I wasn't working, I went to steal sandwiches from the catered lunches on campus because I was trying to save money. I'd usually go at the end when all the professors had gotten their fill, but one particular day, I arrived a little too early and found myself directly behind Elena Kagan in the line.

She struck up a conversation and asked me how I liked Harvard Law School, seemingly genuinely interested in my views. I was a little taken aback as I had relatively little interaction with the faculty and I knew only vaguely that Ms. Kagan was someone of importance, but I thought little of telling her how I felt.

I responded by telling her that I wasn't a student, but that I liked the campus very much. She asked what else I liked about it and I mentioned the library and how nice and polished the buildings seemed. She laughed and I said that I also liked the free lunch. I held the door open for her and she smiled.

Later a colleague told me, in front of a giant portrait of Oliver Wendell Holmes, that the woman I had just met would be on the short list of the Supreme Court and that I had likely met a future Supreme Court justice. "Huh," I thought, "I guess they don't make them the way they used to."

How prescient that all seems now. I wonder how many other potential Supreme Court justices I have met. Or even presidents? A cautionary tale to always be on your best behavior and to steal as many sandwiches as possible.