Legal Scholar's UC Deanship Withdrawn

Erwin Chemerinsky, speaks to the media after a hearing on California's three-strikes-you're-out law outside the Supreme Court in Washington, in this Nov. 2002 file photo. Liberal legal scholar Chemerinsky says the University of California, Irvine has withdrawn its offer to make him dean of its new law school because he is too politically controversial. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) (Rick Bowmer - AP)

SANTA ANA, Calif. -- The University of California, Irvine, has withdrawn its offer to make renowned legal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky dean of its new law school because he is "too politically controversial," he said Wednesday.

Chemerinsky, a liberal scholar and commentator on constitutional law who recently represented exposed CIA agent Valerie Plame, said in a telephone interview that he signed a contract with the university last week after being offered the dean's post on Aug. 16. The offer was contingent on the approval of the University of California Board of Regents, he said.

UC Irvine Chancellor Michael V. Drake met with Chemerinsky on Tuesday and told him the offer had been withdrawn because some board members were concerned about his politics, the scholar said.

"He said that I had proven to be too politically controversial; those were his exact words," Chemerinsky said. "He said that ... to get me approved in the Board of Regents would be a bloody fight, and even if we won the fight it would have damaged the law school."

The school's decision, which Drake confirmed, drew immediate criticism from legal scholars.

The institution will be the first new public law school in California in 40 years and is expected to welcome its first class in 2009. The university recently announced that a $20 million donation from Orange County developer and billionaire Donald Bren will pay for the dean's salary and 11 faculty positions.

Chemerinsky said he had no intention of creating an overly liberal law school.

"I was looking to hire top professors from all over the country, reflecting a great diversity of viewpoints," Chemerinsky said. "I thought we had a chance to create a great law school."

In a printed statement, Drake offered few details on the school's decision.

"My decision is no reflection whatsoever on his qualifications, but I must have complete confidence that the founding dean and I can partner effectively in building our law school," Drake said. "As in all decisions, I must do what I believe is in the best interests of our university."

Observers said they were shocked by the news and predicted it would affect UC Irvine's ability to recruit well-known scholars to the faculty.

"This is such a colossal blunder at the infant stages of this law school," said Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School.

"They're trying to get on the map and all they've done is lost the respect of legal scholars across the nation. Nobody wants to sign up for this type of amateur approach."

UCLA law professor Stephen Bainbridge wrote on his blog, professorbainbridge.com, that UC Irvine's decision "sets the worst kind of precedent for all of us in legal education ... who dare express political views."

Chemerinsky taught for 21 years at the University of Southern California law school before moving to Duke University in 2004. In Los Angeles, he helped write a new city charter and was a frequent media commentator. He also served on a panel to review the Los Angeles Police Department's response to a corruption scandal.

In April 2005, Legal Affairs magazine named him one of the top 20 legal thinkers in America.