Posted on 03/04/2010 2:45:18 PM PST by OldDeckHand
Everyone is wondering: Where did that erroneous rumor of an imminent retirement by Chief Justice John Roberts come from? The gossip spread like wildfire, triggering thousands of texts, blog posts, and emails — a few hundred of them to the ATL tips line — before Radar, which first published the rumor, retracted its report.
We were skeptical, which is one reason why we didn’t write about the gossip as quickly as some other outlets. We reached out to the Supreme Court’s Public Information Office after we heard the rumor, and we didn’t want to write about it until we heard back from the PIO (or at least gave them a little time to respond).
Of course, we have many Supreme Court sources other than the official ones — and they reacted with extreme skepticism when we ran the Radar report by them. One of our SCOTUS experts actually laughed out loud after we (sheepishly) asked, “Have you heard anything about a possible Roberts retirement?” This source noted that JGR would sooner die — literally — than give Obama the chance to appoint his successor.
Like many a promising legal career, the Roberts resignation rumor traces its origins to a 1L class at Georgetown University Law Center….
Here’s an account of what went down in Professor Peter Tague’s criminal law class this morning, from a 1L at Georgetown Law:
(Excerpt) Read more at abovethelaw.com ...
Winston Churchill was a Liberal in his early days. The National Liberal Club in London (in the heart of Westminster) has a very large portrait of Churchill on the wall at the foot of a rather ornate staircase. In the late 70’s, early 80’s it was a great place to stay, available at very reasonable cost when Parliment was not in session.
ping
Obama dodged a bullet on this one. Another half hour before the rumor was debunked and he would have announced Chief Justice Roberts’ replacement.
A rumor goes out to the world this morning and by night it's tracked down and disassembled.
Nice.
Seriously. Neither texting nor laptops were common when I was an undergrad, but were when I started law school years later.
I actually never brought a laptop to class my entire 1L year, even though all of my professors allowed it. Not coincidentally, I finished that year near the top of my class. I started bringing my laptop during my 2L year, and my grades predictably plummeted (though there were a number of other reasons for that). I started bringing it because my handwriting is atrocious, and I could barely read my own notes, let alone keep them organized. Of course, it wasn’t long before I started surfing the internet in class just like everyone else.
If I was a law professor or any other kind of professor, there’s no way I’d permit laptops in my class unless there was a very good reason to. As useful as they are, they’re the most distracting devices ever invented by man.
Personally if I had the laptop I have now back then(I was a computer sci major and we still worked with punch cards), since my hand writing is atrocious as well, I’d bring the laptop to class but turn it toward the instructor so I could record the lecture in audio and video to replay it later. I remember being so busy trying to transcribe the lecturer in my horrible handwriting and then not being able to read it later that I learned almost nothing. I relied almost completely on the text books. But as for texting, it is the scorge of higher education.
I agree. I don’t really blame the professor at all here.
It was an excellent lesson, just got out of hand. Either somebody a student told or a student sent word out to the media, and I am sure the prof didn’t expect that.
I agree that its an excellent lessson BECAUSE it got out of hand. And its a caustionary tale for all of us who live for being the first to post “THE story” be it first hand, second hand or umpteenth hand. I remember my first pantsing I got on the interweb. I posted a story about Thereas Hines Kerry that was flat out not true. I forget the details but I got screwed by fellow message board friends and foes and rightfully so.
I saw innuendo about Roberts' sexuality.
And think about it. This prof explained himself within a half an hour. But the rumor went viral anyway. I first heard about it on the National Review Corner this morning(though their post poured more that a few grains of salt on it). Now this prof was trying to make a point and he made his point to the whole freaking world by mumbling something in a classroom. If I were him, I’d be partying big time right now. In fact, I am sure he is dining out for free because of what he did for the next week at least.
I hope he doesn’t retire for a long time....
Oddly enough, instead he's created a case study for journalism classes all across the country. He's also put himself on the "academic map", although probably not in the way he had envisioned
"News at Eleven" (1986)
Just be sure to put on a hazmat suit.
This is just more evidence that the Left is coming unglued.
That nutty professor is probably snickering right now, saying how terrible rapid communication is. But his prank was exposed before I even got back on my computer.
Here’s the uptick:
neodad posted the key update in less than 3 minutes:
Thread posted at 9:47:52.
His post: 9:50:21.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2464096/posts?page=9#9
The hoax was exposed with AMAZING speed! I LOVE rapid communication. Sure, there are people who always eat the dust of others and get temporarilly confused. That’s the way it will always be unless we are overly regulated.
At least the correct info made it out there in a twinkling. Neodad even red flagged the update in “all caps”.
Thank you. I’m amazed at how quickly the update came:
neodad posted the key update in less than 3 minutes:
Thread posted at 9:47:52.
His post: 9:50:21.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2464096/posts?page=9#9
The hoax was exposed with AMAZING speed! I LOVE rapid communication.
“And he asked his students not to tell anyone.”
Apparently, law attracts at least some individuals of questionable integrity. I don’t think the professor’s “stunt” was unwise or irresponsible. He made a potent pedagogical point and the only persons harmed were the untrustworthy individuals who got egg all over their face after failing to heed his admonition. Ideally, at least some of them might reflect on their behavior and be shamed into improving their character. At minimum, the recipients of this “news” will have learned something about the trustworthiness of the 1L’s who shared it and react accordingly.
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