Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky relates an anecdote about a threat to shut down an event and how he responded in the AALS President’s Message (Spring 2022)
A few years ago, there was an incident at my law school where an Israeli Supreme Court justice was coming to speak. A group, Students for Justice in Palestine, indicated that they were going to disrupt the event and “de-platform” the speaker and keep her from being heard. I sent a letter to the law school community saying that all ideas and views can be expressed, that disruption of a speaker would be punished, and that those who object must do so in a non-disruptive way. That, thankfully, is what occurred, as the Students for Justice in Palestine handed out leaflets and then held their own event.