Saturday, June 16, 2007

Naming names: I have the 12

Professors Back Libby on Appeal - The New York Sun:
Mr. Dershowitz's presence on the brief is perhaps most notable because the Harvard professor has been viewed in many quarters as political liberal, at least until recently. Many of the other scholars who joined in are known libertarians or conservatives, such as a failed Supreme Court nominee of President Reagan, Robert Bork, who taught at Yale.

The remaining professors joining the brief were Vikram Amar of the University of California Hastings, Randy Barnett and Viet Dinh of Georgetown, Douglas Kmiec and Robert Pushaw of Pepperdine, Richard Parker of Harvard, Gary Lawson of Boston University, Thomas Merrill of Columbia, Earl Maltz of Rutgers, Robert Nagel of the University of Colorado.

The legal question centers on whether a 1988 Supreme Court decision, Morrison v. Olson, which upheld the constitutionality of a now-expired independent counsel statute, renders Mr. Fitzgerald's appointment lawful. Mr. Fitzgerald was appointed to resolve potential political conflicts of interest in the Justice Department. He was subject to removal by the acting Attorney General, but was not under the department's day-to-day supervision.

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