When Robert Bork was nominated for the U.S. Supreme Court, one of his former colleagues at Yale explained why the Senate shouldn't worry about Bork's somewhat intemperate scholarship. Since becoming a judge, the colleague explained, Bork had changed his reasoning style. Then came the zinger: This eminent professor testified that Bork's "abandonment of his slashing and extreme style in favor of a judicious incremental approach to thinking about the law . . . disqualifies him for a reappointment at Yale Law School." Apparently, only extremists make good legal academics. Reason, moderation, and common sense may be positive traits in a judge, but nowadays they are fatal flaws in a legal scholar.
- From Beyond All Reason: The Radical Assault on Truth in American Law by Daniel A. Farber and Suzanna Sherry
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