Eagleionline

A recent article entitled “Law prof’s appearance in Maine ad causes stir at Boston College” prompted Maine State Representative Jon Hinck (District 118, Portland) to email Dean Garvey.  Representative Hinck told us the Fitzgibbon commercial reminded him of a part of an opinion by Supreme Court Justice Souter: “he thrusts at lions of his own imagining.”  Board of Ed. of Kiryas Joel v. Grumet, 512 U.S. 687 (1994).  The email questions Fitzgibbon’s conclusions, and suggests that the Law School should seek to have him grant media requests or otherwise back up his “highly dubious” opinions.  The letter:

Dear Dean Garvey:

 

I just read an article in the Lewiston Maine Sun Journal on a controversy over Professor Fitzgibbon’s appearance in an ad on the marriage equality issue.  I am a state legislator who voted for marriage equality and also a lawyer in private practice.  Fitzgibbon’s statements in the ad were surprising to me. Though I strongly agree with an opinion attributed to you in defense of the right of professors to speak their views, I want to raise another issue.  The issue is not the right to speak but rather standards for the quality of a law professor’s scholarship.  In the ad Professor Fitzgibbon says: “Legal experts predict a flood of lawsuits against individuals, small businesses and religious groups; church organizations could lose their tax-exempt status; homosexual marriage, taught in public schools whether parents like it or not.”   These bald assertions lead me to question the quality of Fitzgibbon’s legal analysis.  My legal practice has been varied.  Since 1990 I have practiced law in California and Maine and one foreign jurisdiction and I have frequently represented plaintiffs in complex litigation.  I do not see how the law as written will give rise to a flood or even a trickle of litigation.  Moreover, it is hard for me to see how plaintiffs could prevail in the kinds of cases professor Fitzgibbon’s strings together in his list of horribles.  There is also little reason to believe that “homosexual marriage will be taught in school” whatever that means.  Of course, in a brief TV spot it is hard to provide much backing for legal conclusions and other bald assertions but it disturbs me that Professor Fitzgibbon did not respond to a request for an interview.  Since he has chosen to enter the fray with what appears on its face to be highly dubious assertions of law attributed to unnamed “legal experts” I would think that your institution would prefer to see the professor support his opinion with analysis when asked and not avoid the reporter.   The law school at Boston College should expect quality scholarship, which in my experience can always be backed up in a public discussion.  I would be interested in your thoughts.     Jon Hinck, Esq., Portland, Maine

Since this letter and despite leaving an email from Eagleionline.com unanswered, Prof. Fitzgibbon did correspond with the University newspaper, The Heights, for an article.

Representative Hinck is not the only person to raise questions about the scholarship of the Fitzgibbon commercial.  The Maine Senate President and Speaker of the House are among several legislators and scholars who submitted a long and detailed rebuttal to the “Yes on 1” ads.  Maine Public Radio ran a story on the accuracy of the commercial, quoting a Maine law professor as stating that “there is nothing to indicate that we’re going to have a flood of litigation” from same-sex marriage, and noting that religious organizations only lose their tax status when they are considered lobbying groups.  Prof. Fitzgibbon also declined comment for the Maine Public Radio story:

Reached by telephone, Fitzgibbon, who is not speaking on behalf of Boston College, declined to talk on tape.  Instead, he asked that questions about the ad and the legal implications of Question 1 be emailed to him.  He then declined to answer those directly, and referred MPBN to the Yes on One campaign.  

Update on Friday, September 25, 2009 at 07:33AM by Ryan

Particularly in light of the article in The Heights, it seems important for me to add the “letter from legal scholars” sent to the Governor of Maine and referred to in the Fitzgibbon commercials.  The letter was written by four law professors, two of whom teach at schools with religious affiliations.  The four schools at which the professors teach are Notre Dame (Indiana), University of St. Thomas School of Law (Minnesota), the University of Missouri, and Washington and Lee (Virginia).