GWU Law Students Afraid to Speak Freely

WASHINGTON - Aug. 30, 2022 - PRLog -- Suddenly students at the George Washington University [GWU] Law School who identify as conservative or libertarian are worried that they will be penalized by their overwhelmingly liberal law professors if they speak freely in their classes, at least according to GWU law professor Jonathan Turley.  He writes:

"With the start of classes at George Washington Law School, I have already had visits to my office of conservative and libertarian students asking if I thought they could speak freely in other classes without being penalized by professors. Despite teaching for decades, it is a question that I never heard from students until the last few years. It is now routine."

He notes that what is happening at his law school is happening at many campuses.  He suggests that  "it is the widespread fear of conservative students who have faced faculties with overwhelmingly liberal viewpoints and growing intolerance on virtually every campus.  Now a new study at North Carolina confirms how conservative students routinely 'self-censor' and do not feel comfortable sharing their views in classes. Not surprisingly given the heavy liberal makeup of faculties, liberal students feel little such fear over retaliation."

This is a frightening development, especially among those who are about to become lawyers, since lawyers are routinely called upon the speak up on behalf of unpopular clients and causes, and to stand up to angry judges and threatening opposing counsel; and now, all too often, to a cancel culture which threatens them in many ways, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf.

"Law schools are raising a generation of wuss lawyers, unable to stand up to tough judges and often underhanded opposing counsel in order to protect the freedom, the financial welfare, and sometimes even the lives of their clients," wrote Banzhaf, who has been thrown out of courtrooms, surrounded by marshals, and threatened with million dollar penalties and even disbarment.

If they are afraid to even express an opinion in class, how can we expect them to stand up for unpopular clients and causes, he writes, but notes that law schools are also to blame for treating their students like delicate snow flakes; "as emotionally distraught young children in need of cuddling."

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