I’m not a lawyer, but I do know that Harvard is not liable in any way for anything Prof. Alan Dershowitz says about another public figure. He has freedom of speech plus academic freedom plus he’s more than a bit of a media whore, and expecting him not to opine on a major case like the Zimmerman/Martin shooting is tantamount to expecting the sun not to rise in the east. Dershowitz will opine, and he will be brutal. It’s what he does. In this case, he has savaged the prosecution’s case, calling it unethical among other things. Right or not, he has every right to say these things.
I bring up the fact that I’m not a lawyer but I do grok Dershowitz’s freedom to opine mainly to point out that non-lawyers easily grasp major concepts of free speech and realize at a glance just how difficult it is for public figures to claim they have been libeled or slandered. The bar in such accusations is quite high. Almost impossible. And his employer isn’t liable even if Dershowitz is guilty of something or lies through his teeth, which he isn’t and hasn’t done. Florida state’s attorney Angela Corey, the lawyer tasked with prosecuting George Zimmerman, she does not get this despite the fact that she is a lawyer. So she reportedly called up Harvard University to threaten it into muzzling Dershowitz.
State Attorney Angela Corey, the prosecutor in the George Zimmerman case, recently called the Dean of Harvard Law School to complain about my criticism of some of her actions.
She was transferred to the Office of Communications and proceeded to engage in a 40-minute rant, during which she threatened to sue Harvard Law School, to try to get me disciplined by the Bar Association and to file charges against me for libel and slander.
She said that because I work for Harvard and am identified as a professor she had the right to sue Harvard.When the communications official explained to her that I have a right to express my opinion as “a matter of academic freedom,” and that Harvard has no control over what I say, she did not seem to understand.
That’s because, based on the evidence of her affidavit against George Zimmerman and now this call to Harvard, Angela Corey is not very smart. She doesn’t know the law and is overmatched in dealing with Alan Dershowitz. These are not opinions, they are facts.
I’ll be waiting for Corey to ring up PJM HQ threatening to sue because of this post. Bring it. Hopefully we’ll record the conversation.
Update: William Jacobson — If Corey did this, she should step down from the Zimmerman case.
Know what would really be true karma? Alan Dershowitz becoming part of Zimmermans defense team. Maybe then Cory will learn a thing or two.
slyfox – I was fantasizing the same thing myself. I think the first thing Dershowitz should raise is that she perjured herself on her affidavit. Maybe he can get her disbarred.
In a just society, prosecutor Corey would be liable for her blatantly political malicious prosecution of Zimmerman. This is a modern day lynching.
It’s time to end prosecutorial immunity now.
Corey should move to Maryland.
…rbj…
….that one flew right over my head (….here in deepest Central Maryland..)….please expand/explain…..I’ll bet it may have something to do with our current Guvnuh…?
Google “Walker Kimberlin”. Since you haven’t been paying attention.
It’s a reference to Judge C.J. Vaughey, of Aaron Walker/Brett Kimberlin infamy.
Try looking up the recent arrest of Aaron Walker in Maryland for blogging the truth about convicted felon/jailhouse lawyer turned left wing activist Brett Kimberlin.
That convicted bomber and perjurer Brett Kimberlin has a peace order restraining Aaron Walker from blogging truthful statements about him.
….thanks guys, I understand now…….I only read the Wall Street Journal and don’t have a television in my 19th cent log cabin; on top of that I’ve learned to keep my Trash Bar up out of reach…I’m too old to chin my self up there….Obama taxes my tolerance …(pun alert!)
Since Harvard didn’t respond, now she’ll call Brett Kimberlin and have him get his operatives to SWAT Dershowitz.
What was that name again? Angela Nifong?
Leftist government officials like Corey conflate themselves with their position and abuse accordingly, usually for distance. A source of continuing amazement is the drop dead stupidity of these people. Like thugs.
Corey obviously never heard the old saw about not getting into fights with people who buy ink by the barrel. Dershowitz has penned so many op-eds and been on so many talking head TV panels that he’s now as much a journalist as a professor and appellate lawyer.
Look for a cooler head, such as State AG Pam Bondi, to step in and take Ms. Corey off this case.
You would think that a public figure like Ms. Corey would understand that part of being a public figure is taking criticism. She is blinded by her ideology.
Has she called up or threatened to sue any of the hate groups that came to Florida looking to lynch Zimmerman? Yeah, I didn’t think so.
An excerpt from Opinion 94-5 of the Florida Bar:
“In conclusion, if an attorney is obligated to report another attorney’s professional misconduct pursuant to Rule 4-8.3, then it is ethically impermissible for the attorney to threaten the other attorney with the filing of a disciplinary complaint. Even if an attorney is not obligated to report the other attorney’s misconduct, threatening to file a disciplinary complaint often will violate one or more of the Rules of Professional Conduct.”
The prosecutor’s conduct in threatening Dershowitz may be subject to discipline, itself.
This is a high-profile situation. She went after Zimmerman, because it’s her chance at the brass ring, a chance to make a big name for herself. This is naked ambition.
Now, this other guy is ruining it for her.
“Shut up, or I’ll sue!”, she explained.
Lots of lawyers use the law as a club.
Wow.
You guys are swallowing whole the Dershowitz second or third-hand account of a set of conversations he has no personal knowledge about.
And for which he offers no support.
Talk about your faith-based initiatives…
Me, I think I’ll hold onto my healthy skepticism. Especially as pertains to Collectivist Dershowitz.
No personal knowledge? You mean Dershowitz made this all up or is it a vast conspiracy by Harvard Law to muzzle an out of control prosecuter? Given the culture of that institution I think not. Actually Dershowitz has been more often right than wrong on important issues for the past few years. Let’s not let his past record blind us to the facts.
Ragspierre – Familiarize yourself with the goings-on before critizing Dershowitz. There is enough evidence that Corey perjured herself on the affidavit, and Dershowitz was the one who pointed that out. That’s a fairly serious charge that appears to be correct. I am surprised Zimmerman’s attorney has not raised that issue with the judge. Yes, Dershowitz may be a Leftist, but he knows his law.
– Coach Martz on his judo approach to opposing teams’ blitzes: “Please sue! Please sue!!”