Via Orin, I just discovered that video of the recent HLS event celebrating Bill Stuntz is available online over here. Erin Sheley, whom some of you might know through Fed Soc stuff, has a writeup of the event over here. Sheley included these lines of praise for Stuntz from David Sklansky and Richard MacAdams:
David Sklansky of Berkeley, citing Orwell on Dickens, observed that “everyone wants to claim him.” Stuntz’s ideas resonate with Burkean skeptics who admire his acknowledgment of systemic complexity; with traditional liberals who appreciate his concern for over-incarceration and racial disparity in the criminal justice system; with “law & economics” scholars who value the empirical foundations of his work; and with law-and-order conservatives for his support of strong policing. McAdams says, “It is difficult to get academics to agree on anything, especially on politically charged matters such as criminal law and procedure. [Stuntz’s] work is just so good—original, empirically grounded, and large-scale—that it defies preexisting categories and compels respect.”
Crimprofs, among others, are invited to discuss. I will share one observation from my own experience as a student in Stuntz’s bail to jail class. He is a magnificent human being and a fine teacher. But at the time of the class, Stuntz declared indecision between voting for Nader or for Bush. Something about that ambivalence seemed exemplary of his open-mindedness and, perhaps equally, his penchant for perversity and paradox 🙂
Bill, we all wish you a quick and complete recovery. God bless.
Posted by Administrators on April 12, 2010 at 11:40 PM