Kerr: Conservatives Should Oppose Boycott Of Yale Law Students In Judicial Law Clerk Hiring

Orin Kerr (UC-Berkeley), Boycotting Law Schools in Clerk Hiring As a Way to Influence Law School Culture:

Fifth Circuit Judge James Ho recently announced that he will be taking on cancel culture through his law clerk hiring practices. Judge Ho believes that the most significant cancel culture problems in legal education today are at Yale Law School. He has therefore decided that, in his capacity as a United States judge, he will no longer hire any Yale Law graduates as law clerks. And he is encouraging other judges to join him.

As I understand things from David Lat's useful coverage, Judge Ho's goal is to change the culture of law schools. By imposing a boycott, and by getting as many other conservative judges as he can to join him, he might discourage conservative applicants from enrolling at Yale Law School. That might pressure Yale Law School to change its culture. And that in turn might cause a shift in the culture at other schools.

This a bad idea, and I hope other judges do not adopt it. Given our blog's traditional readership among conservative judges and clerks, I thought I would take a minute here to say why. ...

[Judge Ho] is trying to use his position as a government official, and the accompanying power to direct taxpayer dollars to employ staff, in a way that maximizes his personal agenda outside of his government work.

• Above the Law, James Ho Cancel Cultures Yale Law FedSoc Because Other Students Are Mean To Yale Law FedSoc Students
• Bloomberg Law, US Judge Won’t Hire Yale Law Clerks Citing ‘Cancel Culture’
• College Fix, Conservative Federal Judge Won’t Hire Yale Law School Clerks
• Daily Mail, Appeals Court Judge Says He Will REFUSE to Take on Law Clerks from Yale Because the 'Intolerant' Ivy League School 'Not Only Tolerates the Cancellation of Views — It Actively Practices It'
• Hot Air, 5th Circuit Judge: I No Longer Hire Clerks From Cancel-Culture Yale Law — and Neither Should You
• Law & Crime, ‘I Want Nothing to Do with It’: Conservative Judge Says He’s Done Hiring Clerks from ‘Intolerant’ Yale Law
• Legal Insurrection, Federal Judge Says He Will No Longer Hire Law Clerks From Yale Law School
• National Review, Judge Ho’s Misguided Answer to Illiberalism at Yale
• National Review, If Judge Ho’s Answer to Illiberalism at Yale Is Misguided, What’s a Better Solution?
• Power Line, Bravo, Judge Ho

TaxProf Blog coverage:

• A Prominent Federal Judge Says He Will No Longer Hire Law Clerks From Yale. Will Other Judges Follow? (Sept. 30, 2022)
• Conservatives Should Oppose Boycott Of Yale Law Students In Judicial Law Clerk Hiring (Oct. 1, 2022)
• More On Judge Ho's Proposed Boycott Of Yale Law School Grads For Judicial Clerkships (Oct. 3, 2022)
• 12 Federal Judges Join Boycott, Refuse To Hire Yale Students As Law Clerks (Oct. 5, 2022)
• 14th Federal Judge Join Boycott, Refuses To Hire Yale Students As Law Clerks (Oct. 8, 2022)
• Professors, Judges Speak Out Against Boycott Of Yale Grads For Judicial Clerkships (Oct. 10, 2022)
• Yale Law Dean Trumpets Free Speech Stance Amid Federal Judges' Clerk Boycott  (Oct. 13, 2022)
• More On The Boycott Of Yale Grads For Judicial Clerkships (Oct. 19, 2022)
• Judge Ho: Restoring America by Resisting Cancel Culture (Oct. 22, 2022)
• Is Yale Law School Turning Over A New Leaf? (Oct. 22, 2022)
• Judge Ho's Boycott Of Yale Grads For Clerkships Violates The Code Of Judicial Conduct (Oct. 24, 2022)
• Inside Higher Ed: Free Speech Concerns Prompt Calls To Shun Yale Law Grads (Oct. 25, 2022)
• Justice Alito Takes Direct Aim At Law Schools For ‘Abysmal’ And ‘Dangerous’ Free Speech Climate As Conservative Judges Boycott His Alma Mater (Oct. 27, 2022)
• Yale Hosts Discussion Tonight On 'Is Free Speech Dead On Campus?' With Federal Judges Leading Boycott Of Yale Law School (Nov. 30, 2022)
• Judges Leading Boycott Of Yale Law School Note Positive Free Speech Developments (Dec. 2, 2022)