(NEW YORK) – Two sitting federal judges recently announced a boycott of all Yale Law School graduates seeking clerkships. A March incident in which some Yale law students disrupted a lecture by conservative attorney Kristen Waggoner led to suggestions by some conservatives that the protesters be denied clerkships. However, in September, Judge James Ho called for a boycott of all Yale alumni, citing an alleged lack of diversity of views and the “nullification” of conservative thought on campus. Judge Elizabeth Branch has announced her support for the boycott, though she applies it only to prospective Yale students, not currently or previously enrolled students.
Jeremy C. Young, senior manager of free expression and education programs at PEN America, released the following statement:
“The boycott proposed by judges Ho and Dega is cruel and counterproductive. This deeply wrong action punishes all students for the actions of a few. The practical effect of this feeble attempt to combat the “cancellation culture” may be to actively discourage conservative students from choosing Yale Law School for fear that conservative judges will not hire them, effectively guaranteeing that the Yale program it will become a liberal echo chamber Ho and Fear of the branch. Ho and Branch are right that ideological diversity is crucial to academic freedom, but they would do well to take their own advice. We applaud the many federal judges who have opposed this action.”
About PEN America
PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect open expression in the United States and around the world. We defend the freedom to write, recognizing the power of words to transform the world. Our mission is to bring together writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and protect the freedoms that make it possible. Learn more at pen.org.
Contact: Suzanne Trimel, [email protected], 201-247-5057
