Catholic Legal Scholars Spank AMSL
Wed, Sep12, 2007 - Category: School of
Law
If any shred of respectability is left among the Ave
Maria School of Law administrators and Board, this is
going to hurt. The stellar list of Catholic legal
scholars who run the respected blog "Mirror of
Justice" issued a joint statement this evening on
the issue of AMSL's governance and employee
treatment:
Excerpts:
"The AMSL administration has violated several procedural norms of the secular academy. In this case, we see no tension between those norms and the norms of faith and reason that should guide a Catholic law school. Indeed, what has happened at AMSL appears to us to violate core Catholic norms."
"In suspending the one tenured and two untenured faculty members, AMSL has deprived them of the dignity of their work – their vocation – without adequate process. And, in suspending the tenured faculty member without pay, AMSL has failed to take into account the well-being of that faculty member’s family."
"By the failure to live their Christian commitment, the AMSL Dean and Board cause scandal in the legal, academic, and religious communities. This scandal is exacerbated by the fact that their actions are taken on behalf of a law school named for the Blessed Mother of Christ."
Signatories:
+ Robert John Araujo, S.J., Boston College Jesuit Community
+ Stephen M. Bainbridge, William D. Warren Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law
+ Thomas C. Berg, St. Ives Professor of Law, University of St. Thomas School of Law (Minnesota)
+ Patrick McKinley Brennan, John F. Scarpa Chair in Catholic Legal Studies, Villanova University School of Law
+ Richard W. Garnett, John Cardinal O’Hara, CSC Associate Professor of Law, Notre Dame Law School
+ Elizabeth R. Kirk, Associate Director, Notre Dame Center for Ethics & Culture (formerly a member of the Ave María Law School faculty)
+ Eduardo M. Peñalver, Associate Professor, Cornell University Law School
+ Michael J. Perry, Robert W. Woodruff Professor of Law, Emory University School of Law
+ Mark A. Sargent, Dean and Professor of Law, Villanova University School of Law
+ Michael A. Scaperlanda, Gene and Elaine Edwards Family Chair in Law, University of Oklahoma College of Law
+ Elizabeth R. Schiltz, Associate Professor of Law, University of St. Thomas School of Law (Minnesota)
+ Steven Shiffrin, Charles Frank Reavis, Sr. Professor of Law, Cornell University Law School
+ Gregory Sisk, Orestes A. Brownson Professor of Law, University of St. Thomas School of Law (Minnesota)
+ Susan J. Stabile, Robert and Marion Short Distinguished Chair in Law, University of St. Thomas School of Law (Minnesota)
+ Robert K. Vischer, Associate Professor of Law, University of St. Thomas School of Law (Minnesota)
This is a very important pivotal moment that shows the true unity that uniquely binds both Catholic scholars and the community of academic legal professionals. Let's see if the as-of-yet-silent "Fellowship of Catholic Scholars" shows a fraction of the character and authentic fellowship on display at Mirror of Justice.
How many good people - from students, to employees, to estranged colleagues, to well-respected professionals in the field - how many need to shout "Enough!" before Tom Monaghan puts his pride aside and recognizes that he is destroying the very thing that he claims to be upholding?
Mirror of Justice - full text | Fumare - commentary
UPDATE, 9/13/2007 - Frontpage headlines in today's issue of The Wanderer (subscription required): "At Ave Maria Law School.. Professor 'Terminated' For 'Touching' Secretary". It discusses the railroading of AMSL co-founder and tenured Professor Stephen Safranek [1,2], and quotes heavily from Fumare's comments [1,2].
UPDATE, 9/14/2007 - Media coverage about the Mirror of Justice statement is spreading: Chronicle of Higher Education News Blog, Naples Daily News (syndicated to Bonita News and Marco News), Catholic News Agency, ABA Journal [1,2], Brian Leiter's Law School Reports, Professor Bainbridge, Univ. of Cincinnati's TaxProf, Professor Greg Reynolds' Instapundit, Mark Shea, PrawfsBlawg,
5pm - add Commweal Magazine blog, Blast Furnace Canada blog
Excerpts:
"The AMSL administration has violated several procedural norms of the secular academy. In this case, we see no tension between those norms and the norms of faith and reason that should guide a Catholic law school. Indeed, what has happened at AMSL appears to us to violate core Catholic norms."
"In suspending the one tenured and two untenured faculty members, AMSL has deprived them of the dignity of their work – their vocation – without adequate process. And, in suspending the tenured faculty member without pay, AMSL has failed to take into account the well-being of that faculty member’s family."
"By the failure to live their Christian commitment, the AMSL Dean and Board cause scandal in the legal, academic, and religious communities. This scandal is exacerbated by the fact that their actions are taken on behalf of a law school named for the Blessed Mother of Christ."
Signatories:
+ Robert John Araujo, S.J., Boston College Jesuit Community
+ Stephen M. Bainbridge, William D. Warren Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law
+ Thomas C. Berg, St. Ives Professor of Law, University of St. Thomas School of Law (Minnesota)
+ Patrick McKinley Brennan, John F. Scarpa Chair in Catholic Legal Studies, Villanova University School of Law
+ Richard W. Garnett, John Cardinal O’Hara, CSC Associate Professor of Law, Notre Dame Law School
+ Elizabeth R. Kirk, Associate Director, Notre Dame Center for Ethics & Culture (formerly a member of the Ave María Law School faculty)
+ Eduardo M. Peñalver, Associate Professor, Cornell University Law School
+ Michael J. Perry, Robert W. Woodruff Professor of Law, Emory University School of Law
+ Mark A. Sargent, Dean and Professor of Law, Villanova University School of Law
+ Michael A. Scaperlanda, Gene and Elaine Edwards Family Chair in Law, University of Oklahoma College of Law
+ Elizabeth R. Schiltz, Associate Professor of Law, University of St. Thomas School of Law (Minnesota)
+ Steven Shiffrin, Charles Frank Reavis, Sr. Professor of Law, Cornell University Law School
+ Gregory Sisk, Orestes A. Brownson Professor of Law, University of St. Thomas School of Law (Minnesota)
+ Susan J. Stabile, Robert and Marion Short Distinguished Chair in Law, University of St. Thomas School of Law (Minnesota)
+ Robert K. Vischer, Associate Professor of Law, University of St. Thomas School of Law (Minnesota)
This is a very important pivotal moment that shows the true unity that uniquely binds both Catholic scholars and the community of academic legal professionals. Let's see if the as-of-yet-silent "Fellowship of Catholic Scholars" shows a fraction of the character and authentic fellowship on display at Mirror of Justice.
How many good people - from students, to employees, to estranged colleagues, to well-respected professionals in the field - how many need to shout "Enough!" before Tom Monaghan puts his pride aside and recognizes that he is destroying the very thing that he claims to be upholding?
Mirror of Justice - full text | Fumare - commentary
UPDATE, 9/13/2007 - Frontpage headlines in today's issue of The Wanderer (subscription required): "At Ave Maria Law School.. Professor 'Terminated' For 'Touching' Secretary". It discusses the railroading of AMSL co-founder and tenured Professor Stephen Safranek [1,2], and quotes heavily from Fumare's comments [1,2].
UPDATE, 9/14/2007 - Media coverage about the Mirror of Justice statement is spreading: Chronicle of Higher Education News Blog, Naples Daily News (syndicated to Bonita News and Marco News), Catholic News Agency, ABA Journal [1,2], Brian Leiter's Law School Reports, Professor Bainbridge, Univ. of Cincinnati's TaxProf, Professor Greg Reynolds' Instapundit, Mark Shea, PrawfsBlawg,
5pm - add Commweal Magazine blog, Blast Furnace Canada blog