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16 J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 1 8 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m Not everyone was convinced that law schools should get involved. Writ- ing in the National Post, Bruce Pardy, a law professor at Queen's University in Kingston, said, "Legal education has lost its way. One could be forgiven for thinking that the purpose of law schools was to train lawyers to under- stand legal principles and to think logi- cally and critically. Instead, some law schools portray themselves as political actors working for a cause." Two of Pardy's Queen's law school colleagues, professors Lisa Kerr and Lisa Kelly, fired back in The Globe and Mail. "Calls for a return to legal formalism — a legal education free of politics — are them- selves deeply political. Stripping law of context allows supporters of the status quo to portray legal rules as neutral or apolitical." No one who has thought about it for more than a minute will deny that law exists in a broad political, cultural, his- torical, ethical and social context. Law reflects and influences society. We all know that. The proper study of law rec- ognizes and explores this complex rela- tionship. In law schools, the relation- ship is dealt with, for better or worse, in courses that specifically address the issue (e.g., legal history, law and eco- nomics, legal philosophy) and intersti- tially in other subjects (e.g., how tax law works to redistribute wealth). But, apparently, some law schools want to go further and promote explicit politi- cal agendas. Many law students will not be too keen on this development (some, of course, will embrace it with fervour). Almost all law students intend to prac- tise law and are in law school to learn how to do it. To them, anything else is peripheral, if not irrelevant and unwel- come. The irony is that most law profes- n February 2018, an all-white jury in Saskatchewan acquitted a white man, Ger- ald Stanley, of murdering an Indigenous youth, Colten Boushie. The acquittal attracted much attention. Many felt that justice had not been done. Many felt that racism lurked behind the jury verdict. Some law schools joined the chorus of indignation. In the forefront was the University of Windsor Law Faculty. It issued a statement that said in part: "What happened to Colten Boushie and law's response to his murder are tragic, unnecessary and unacceptable. We stand with Colten Boushie's family. We stand with Red Pheasant First Nation. We stand with Indigenous Peoples. We stand with Indigenous scholars, students, activists and families who remind all of us of our moral responsibilities as guests in the Territo- ries of the Three Fires Confederacy to generate change." Several other law schools, deans of law and law professors across the country expressed similar sentiments in a less formal and portentous way. Some of these professors and institutions have since been described as "social justice warriors" (a dubious compliment given the history of that descriptor — see, for example, its definition in urbandictionary.com). L E G A L E T H I C S O P I N I O N @philipslayton HUAN TRAN Politicized law schools Law schools that want to promote political viewpoints are misled about their purpose By Philip Slayton I EDUCATION SHOULD TEACH US HOW TO TELL A GOOD ARGUMENT FROM A BAD ARGUMENT, NOT PROMOTE A PARTICULAR ARGUMENT. ADOPTING SPECIFIC ARGUMENTS CAN WAIT FOR LATER…

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