Law professor David Cole in The New York Review, February 15, 2022, writes that Georgetown University Law Center should not fire conservative lawyer Ilya Shapiro for two ill-advised tweets over the appointment of a black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court. He says that much is at stake, :…a robust exchange of ideas and free inquiry…essential to the academic enterprise….”
Judge James C. Ho of the 5th Circuit cited his own history of racial discrimination in addressing Shapiro’s tweets but upheld freedom of speech as essential to the adversarial system of justice. Ho went on to defend the substance of the tweets and to say that President Joe Biden’s policy in appointing a black judge represented racial discrimination. “Let me be clear” said Ho. “I stand with Ilya on the paramount importance of color-blindness. And that same principle should apply whether we’re talking about getting into college, getting your first job, or receiving an appointment to the highest court in the land.” (National Review, February 15, 2022, by Nate Hochman)