SCOTUS

How Appealing ^ | September 18, 2005 | Larry Tribe

[HarvardHater]

Tribe goes nuts -- violates federal law by "outing" John Roberts as an A minus student!

[HarvardHater]

I just noticed this post by Howard Bashman on How Appealing, linking to a Harvard plug for a "Constitution Day" speech Larry Tribe gave September 18, and also linking to a video of the speech. Tribe drones on for well over an hour, and lots of what he says is nuts.

Among the many nutty things he says, the nuttiest thing is that even though it's a clear violation of federal law for a professor at a university which receives federal funds (like Harvard) to publicly disclose the grade of a student or former student (see this federal website, and Harvard's own website), in his speech, in the process of criticizing John Roberts' presentation at his confirmation hearings, Tribe "outs" Roberts as an A minus student.

Don't believe Tribe would stoop so low as to reach back 28 years to mention that Roberts got an A minus in his constitutional law class, in the process violating federal law and all standards of decency? Just check out the video at 23:58, here. Here's a transcript:

"There was a lot less there than met the ear. The Roberts' persona was powerfully present; one could draw certain inferences about the spirit in which he might approach the job; he's friendly. He's brilliant -- I can testify to that quite directly. He was a student in my constitutional law course in the Fall of 1977. Even more significant, his grade didn't quite reflect his brilliance. But that often happens. And from now on, I'll be able to use that as a wonderful example, at the end of the course, not to put him down, but to say: 'You can actually get somewhere in this life if you get only an A minus in this course.' It’s not required that you be at the absolute top in everything."

"Not to put him down." "A wonderful example." Yeah, right.

[Cyclopean Squid]

I wish I were an A-minus student. I'm more of an Eplison-Minus.

[hipaatwo]

Welcome to FreeRepublic. Howard Bashman is the best, and I'm not saying that because he's my cousin..LOL

[sittnick]

Of course, this presumes that Professor Tribe did not dock Roberts for not parroting everything he says.

The grade may be more of a reflection on Tribe than Roberts. Roberts graduated Summa Cum Laude... that tells me that A- may well have been his lowest grade.

[Wuli]

There is never anything that ever amazes me about Liberals disregard for the law, for they have no regard for the law, because they have no regard for the constitution.

They believe that the constitution is not what stands at the heart of America. For them what stands at the heart of America is some nether-world concept about "rights" and a "government based on the idea of EXPANDING those rights", though they are never quite sure how this concept is spelled out or exactly what "rights" the founders thought should be expanded.

But not to worry SCOTUS will know them when they see them.

In the meantime, the adherence to the constitution and to law must be weighed against the greater sense of what serves the agenda to achieve our expanding "rights".

When you take the liberal treatment of the constitution down to the street, you have flood-victim looters securing their "rights" from the capitalist pigs.

[newsgatherer]

getting an a- at Harvard 28 years ago in Constitutional law means that he said that Article two of the bill of rights meant people had the right to own and carry anything that the US military carried.

An A- at Harvard is to high a grade for anyone that takes the Constitution to mean what it says, I wish he had gotten a C-.

[English Nationalist]

He got an A- at one of the best universities in the world? That's shocking. Obviously he's utterly unqualified and should be sacked immediately.

[operation clinton cleanup]

Roberts got an A minus in his constitutional law class

Note to Tribe... you did not just get confirmed to the SCOTUS!

[Enchante]

Tribe shows the usual lack of character now expected among liberals. Violating confidentiality and apparently federal law..... using this 'A-' anecdote to pretend to a position of intellectual superiority over John Roberts....

Actually, given that Tribe is a loony liberal, it must have required sheer brilliance for Roberts even to manage an 'A-'....... I'll bet Tribe wanted to give him a low grade but just couldn't justify anything lower.

[ErnBatavia]

I hope Bush gets two more justice replacements, and I'll bet big bucks I'm at least half right...Ginzburg and Stevens; it's fun watching the 'Rats go nuts.

[Republic]

Nice screen name! LOL I despise that organization-that university, as well. Sort of reminds me of an ACLU boot camp.

That said, perhaps the A-minus that John Roberts received from Tribe was more a reflection of Tribe's inability to understand ad therefore 'grade' genuine brilliance than it was one of John Roberts not quite making the 4.0 grade in Tribe's class.

[Enchante]

Back in the mid-80s I had an occasion to discuss law school student performance with Derek Bok when he was President of Harvard (he had previously been a Professor and then Dean of Harvard Law School). It was while Dukakis was Governor of Mass. (but before anyone but Dukakis himself imagined he'd be running for President!). I asked Bok if he'd taught Dukakis and he had.... I asked if Dukakis was a good student :^) and Bok said he was fairly decent (but it was said without any enthusiasm). I then asked who his best-ever student had been and without an instant's hesitation he replied..... Scalia! Now there's an honest liberal.... Bok was/is just as liberal as Tribe, but he didn't have to try to put down Scalia or do anything other than affirm his brilliance. Of course, I was not a reporter and it was not a case of a Harvard professor needing to please his left-liberal constituents.........

[Past Your Eyes]

Was that after adjusting for inflation?

[Im4LifeandLiberty]

Nice post. None of this is surprising considering it is Mr Partisan, Larry Tribe. This seems to be a classic case of his constant ideological drivel. His legal arguments never stun me with logical coherence, and I think he may have preferred a career as a Left-wing pundit than as a lawyer and professor of con law.
I assume you are a student at Harvard?

[NativeNewYorker]

Tribe has recently been caught plagiarizing/recycling material...he's not just a bone-headed liberal, he's a thief!

[Novangelus06]

Please show a modicum of respect for the document that the founders of our country hoped would be rigid enough to protect the rights of the people and flexible enough to be relevant throughout the ages. Constitution should be capitalized.

[Wuli]

I'll remind my typist.

[HarvardHater]

Interesting you'd mention that Derek Bok identified Justice Scalia as his best student, because in his speech, right after violating federal law and "outing" Chief Justice Roberts as an A minus student in constitutional law, Tribe "outed" himself as one of Derek Bok's worst students ever (or, at most an average student). Just skip to the 24:50 minute mark in this video, where Tribe says (right after the comment he makes about Roberts): "I tell people about how Derek Bok gave me a flat B in one course, although I didn't until this moment name him as the person who gave me a B. And see, I still managed to survive." Bok was a professor when Tribe was at Harvard Law School. He later became dean, and then president of Harvard itself.

[HarvardHater]

"Tribe has recently been caught plagiarizing/recycling material...he's not just a bone-headed liberal, he's a thief!"

You know, this is a really good point. I recall that after Jody Bottum's excellent article last year exposing Tribe as having used a student ghostwriter on a book 20 years earlier who, it turned out, had plagiarized from another book (this came right after Bottum's first story on Harvard Law School plagiarism, about how some students had recently committed plagiarism in writing a book for Charles Ogletree), some people said, in effect, "Well, that's ancient history, so long ago, it's unfair to bring that up now."

Well, now Tribe's bringing up a grade Chief Justice Roberts received in his class 28 years ago, and in so doing he's breaking federal law. Tribe's plagiarism was only 21 years ago, so by Tribe's own standard it seems fair game. Plus, no one's violated federal law by talking about Tribe's plagiarism.

Borrowing from Tribe's comments in his speech about Chief Justice Roberts getting an A minus, I guess I should make clear that in talking about Tribe's plagiarism, I'm doing it not to put him down, but simply to point out that the 1985 book that got Tribe in trouble didn't quite reflect his brilliance. But that often happens. And from now on, I'll be able to use that as a wonderful example, not to put him down, but to say: "You can actually get somewhere in this life if you have students write books for you, and it turns out they plagiarized from other books. It's not required that you be at the absolute top in everything."

"Not to put him down." "A wonderful example." Yeah, right. Unless you bought that when Tribe insisted he wasn't trying to put down Roberts, you won't buy it now.