Seattle Law School Fails To Condemn Fabricated Accusations Against Prof. Bernie Burk
At Legal Insurrection we have covered dozens of instances of false or misleading claims of racism and other -isms against professors and others by student and campus activists. Our ability to shine a light has won widespread praise. Some professors have been fired, others merely harassed and tormented. Frequently, weak administrations kowtow to student and activist fabrications and prevarications, rather than standing up for truth.
I m not sure I ve seen a case like that of law professor Bernard ( Bernie ) Burk at Seattle University School of Law. It s one of those rare cases where there are recordings of the alleged offensive statements, and those recordings show Prof. Burk never made the key statements in question.
I first read about Prof. Burk at the invaluable TaxProf Blog run by Pepperdine Law Dean Paul Caron. I don t know Prof. Burk, but he followed a path similar to mine, practicing law for over 20 years before moving to teaching:
This is the reason I believe that so many of my colleagues are happy to have their classes recorded. Myself, I’m against it, but students can easily enough record one’s classes anyway.