More Politics of Abortion: A Defense of Prof. Dawn Johnsen

Post to Twitter Post to Facebook

Over at Balkinization, Andrew Koppelman writes:

Dawn Johnsen, President Obama’s nominee to head the Office of Legal Counsel, has been accused of misrepresenting a position she took in litigation, and I have been cited as authority against Prof. Johnsen. On this basis, Republican senators are considering a filibuster against the nomination.

The accusation is false, and the reliance on my writings distorts what I wrote. Yesterday I faxed a letter to Senator Arlen Specter, who has indicated that he is troubled by these accusations, to set the record straight.

Props to Koppelman. Read his letter to Specter here. Koppelman further notes:

When questioned about the brief, Prof. Johnsen correctly denied ever making a Thirteenth Amendment argument. This led many writers in the blogosphere, most prominently columnist Andy McCarthy at National Review Online, to repeatedly accuse her of misrepresenting her position. These claims are recklessly irresponsible. Prof. Johnsen is being libeled.

Share
This entry was posted in Feminism and Law, Feminism and Politics, Feminist Legal Scholarship, Feminists in Academia. Bookmark the permalink.