Law Profs Argue Over Spoof

Several senior Law School professors are sparring publicly over whether the school's administrative board should take action against students who participated in a controversial spoof edition of the Harvard Law Review.

The recent publication contained a parody of an article by feminist scholar Mary Joe Frug, who was murdered last spring. Critics called the article misogynistic and insensitive.

The debate over disciplining the students comes at a time when emotions at the school are already running high over the school's minority hiring record. Student activists said last week that they viewed the Frug parody as symptomatic of a hostile atmosphere towards women and minorities at the school.

Some students suggested in memos this week that embattled Law School Dean Robert C. Clark should not speak or hand out diplomas at the school's commencement ceremony, in order to minimize tensions at the event.

Article a `Terrorization'

In an April 19 memo to the administrative board which was distributed to students at the Law School yesterday, Professor of Law David W. Kennedy asked the board to bring charges against students both directly and indirectly responsible for the Frug parody.

Calling the article "a terrorization of women in general," Kennedy wrote in the memo that the students involved may not deserve to graduate from the Law School.

"Certainly there must be some level of misbehavior by students that is sufficiently either cruel or contemptible to raise questions about our certification of the individuals involved as potential members of the bar," Kennedy wrote. "This case raises questions about what these standards are and the extent to which they have been violated."

Kennedy's memo drew a response from three of his colleagues, including Professor of Law Alan M. Dershowitz, who called the furor over the spoof a "McCarthyite witch hunt" in his syndicated Los Angeles Times column yesterday.

In their counter-memo, the professors asked the board to dismiss Kennedy's complaint based on the student's right to free speech.

"Specifically, we ask the Board to state promptly and unequivocally that it has neither the authority nor the disposition even to consider disciplinary action based on the offensive content of a publication issued by a member of the university," the professors wrote.

And Dershowitz wrote in his column that he believes the main problem confronting the law school is nei- ther sexism nor racism, but the fact that "fortoo many radical professors and students, freedomof speech for those who disagree with them is`just not their thing.'"

In an interview with The Crimson last night,Dershowitz called Kennedy's memo "unconscionable"and "irresponsible" and said the professor'saction could have a "chilling effect" on freespeech at the Law School.

"He's in the great tradition of Stalin andJoseph McCarthy when he says that writing a parodyis an act of terrorism," Dershowitz said. "I'mopposed to ... faculty members who use theirstatus as faculty members to terrorize studentsand to frighten them away from exercising theirfree speech."

Dershowitz added that, if asked, he woulddefend the students aganist any charges brought bythe administrative board.

Kennedy, who is out of the country, wasunavailable for comment yesterday

In an interview with The Crimson last night,Dershowitz called Kennedy's memo "unconscionable"and "irresponsible" and said the professor'saction could have a "chilling effect" on freespeech at the Law School.

"He's in the great tradition of Stalin andJoseph McCarthy when he says that writing a parodyis an act of terrorism," Dershowitz said. "I'mopposed to ... faculty members who use theirstatus as faculty members to terrorize studentsand to frighten them away from exercising theirfree speech."

Dershowitz added that, if asked, he woulddefend the students aganist any charges brought bythe administrative board.

Kennedy, who is out of the country, wasunavailable for comment yesterday