A conservative federal appeals court judge on Thursday in an unusual email urged judges to think twice about hiring as clerks any Yale Law School students who protested a recent event hosted by the school's chapter of the Federalist Society.
Senior U.S. Circuit Judge Laurence Silberman sent the message to federal judges nationwide in response to an event at Yale last week featuring a conservative lawyer who at the U.S. Supreme Court defended a Colorado baker who"All federal judges – and all federal judges are presumably committed to free speech – should carefully consider whether any such student so identified should be disqualified for potential clerkships," Silberman wrote, according to two recipients of the email.
"Members of the administration are nonetheless in serious conversation with students about our policies, expectations and norms," she said in a statement.