Posted on 09/12/2001 6:59:50 AM PDT by TLBSHOW
BOISE, Idaho (AP) -
Some Idaho conservatives are fuming at the idea of former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno giving a lecture at the University of Idaho Law School next month. Reno is to speak on the Moscow campus on Oct. 2, and her remarks will be simulcast in Boise. She will receive a $7,500 fee from an endowment established by Sherman J. Bellwood, a University of Idaho graduate who later became a district judge.
Although conservatives, such as Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, have been previous guest lecturers, Idaho opponents of the Clinton administration's attorney general do not see Reno as a legitimate figure to balance viewpoints.
University officials said the lecture was consistent with a university's responsibility to promote the free exchange of ideas.
Reno is especially unpopular in many conservative circles for her handling of federal law enforcement actions at the Branch Davidian complex in Waco, Texas, in 1993 and later for the seizure and return of Elian Gonzalez to his native Cuba.
Reno recently announced her Democratic candidacy for governor of Florida.
"Janet Reno is just a political hack," said Don Morgan, a Republican state committeeman from Coeur d'Alene and chairman of Citizens for Term Limits-Idaho Campaign. "Should we really be holding up Janet Reno as a role model for future lawyers?"
University Law School Dean John Miller started the fund-raising that established a $1 million endowment for the Bellwood Lectures Series, which has featured other important legal figures, journalists and academics.
Miller said he asked Reno to lecture several years ago and reissued the invitation last year.
"The whole idea of a law school is to engage in free debate to test one's ideas and preconceptions," Miller said. "How can you do that if you don't encounter people different than yourself?"
But at least one political organizer - Ted Dunlap, executive director of the Idaho Libertarian Party - is planning to protest Reno's appearance.
"She's on my short list of cruel and heartless people," Dunlap said. "She and Bill Clinton, Dianne Feinstein, Ted Kennedy. She's a hot-button for me."
FWIW, Reno approached Baylor to speak. Baylor did not initiate contact.
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