[TChad]

Do you have a link that presents the case for conservatives to support Chemerinsky?

David Horowitz at FrontPage
Scott Johnson at PowerLine
Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit, multiple current posts
Steve Bainbridge at professorbainbridge.com
Eugene Volokh at volokhconspiracy
Victor Davis Hanson at The Corner (National Review)

and more.

[Michael.SF.]

Thanks. I read the first one, David Horowitz' article, because I respect his opinion. Here is his conclusion:

However, the principle of academic freedom is also at stake.
What UC Irvine should have done is said, we will hire you as a professor
(however reprehensible your politics) but we can't build a law school around you.

Not exactly a ringing endorsement for the position he was fired from.

I basically agree with the principle of 'Academic Freedom' and I wish that it existed in this country. It does not. Witness to that the long fight to get rid of Ward Churchill. IMHO, it was nice to see a liberal get a taste of 'his' own medicine. Perhaps a few libs will wake up and realize that they have been guilty of worse, a far greater number of times.

[Michael.SF.]

From Steve Bainbridge: Speaking of GOP-leaning real estate barons, my guess - and it's just a guess - is that Donald Bren may have had a hand in this development. Bren gave $20 million to UC Irvine to finance the law school, which is to be named after him. His Forbes bio includes this comment: "Major Republican donor; a skiing buddy of Schwarzenegger." His campaign contributions are summarized here, mostly going to fairly conservative GOP candidates.

IMHO, it his highly likely that Bren had a say in this. $20,000,000 donation gives him that privilege. The big mistake was not having him on the panel, which probably is the case, to approve the hiring in the first place.