Does the Law Lean Left?

Bostonist read in Sunday's New York Times that a recent study proves what Tom DeLay has been saying for ages: the legal establishment is hopelessly liberal (as evidenced by a preponderance of donations to Democratic candidates and causes among law professors). Now, being practically a communist, Bostonist has never found almost any group of Americans sufficiently left-leaning for our tastes, and we certainly didn't feel overwhelmed with liberal claptrap during our years at Boston University law school. But we figured there must be someone out there who went to one of the law schools in true-blue Massachusetts who disagreed with us (or, at least, agreed with us but was able to speak more cogently on the matter) and since this was a story we could comfortably investigate from the comfort of our desk, we sprung into action.

Our entirely unscientific sample of former law students and professors (consisting of those people we went to school with or know in some other way who were kind enough to respond to our e-mail) yielded no consensus. Two professors from our alma mater, neither of them known to be especially liberal, felt that the influence of professors' political leanings was greatly exaggerated, suggesting that while the majority of their colleagues probably tended to vote Democratic, law teaching was seldom, if ever, affected by professorial politics.

We also talked to a lawyer in Belmont who also attended B.U., and is a self-described conservative. He disagreed with the profs strongly:

"It was glaringly obvious to me that over 90% of my professors were liberal. It may not have been as obvious to my classmates, as I'd be tempted to guess that about the same percentage of my classmates were liberal as well. And a resounding yes to the second part of your question - Yes, I think this affected my education."

This lawyer gave Bostonist numerous examples, foremost among them his opposition to affirmative action. He said that even in a class where the professor allowed a lot of discussion and called on him frequently, he could not get an opportunity to defend his position. "When I tried to address these issues," he said, "I was shut down and the class was moved on."

Louis Dundin, a law clerk at the Massachusetts Appeals Court who went to Boston College Law School, said he thought that even though his professors were a generally liberal bunch, they tended to take conservative points of view to encourage debate. The conservative minority of students, Dundin said, tended to be more vocal than the left-leaning majority. "And hey, c'mon," he added, "law school may be one of the last places in this country where there is a liberal majority -- I've got precious few tears for the three years legal conservatives have to spend in a place where they're potentially in the minority."

Ava Barbour, who attended B.U. law and will begin working for the ACLU in New York next month, agreed that liberals were in the majority, but thought the effect on teaching was minimal. She also pointed out two other groups whose overrepresentation she found more troubling: "Boring loudmouths" and white people. Belonging to both of those groups, Bostonist is reluctant to agree, but it's food for thought. (Actually, subscribing to the Groucho Marx school of club membership, we totally agree, but whatever.) To that end, we ask you, dear readers of academic bent: Is Massachusetts's liberal reputation reflected in its classrooms? Is this a bad thing? Conservatives of the Commonwealth, we know you're out there, and we especially want to know what you think.