Dershowitz Ignores Legal Precedent

In a recent article on proposed harassment rules for the Law School ("Law Students Criticize Policy on Hate Speech," March 22, 1994), Frankfurter Professor of Law Alan M. Dershowitz stated that Harvard should not worry about the law when drafting delicate hate speech rules.

Prof. Dershowitz's statement, "We don't have to follow the courts," tends to reinforce the notion that private educational institutions are not subject to Constitutional restraints.

But, especially in Massachusetts, it's just not that simple. In a landmark 1986 case, Abramowitz v. Boston University, a Superior Court judge ruled that the state's broad civil rights law forces private universities to respect students' First Amendment rights. While no appellate court has ruled on this particular question, judges have applied the law to other private entities.

I also wonder why, as a civil libertarian, Prof. Dershowitz would so eagerly dismiss the courts as an aggrieved student's last line of defense against powerful university administrators. Joshua A. Gerstein '91   The writer, a television news producer in Washington, D.C., is a former Senior Editor of The Crimson.