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Why I Will Honor the AALS Boycott

By Jim Chen et al.

The owner of the Manchester Grand Hyatt, at which the AALS Annual Meeting is now scheduled to be held, has funded an initiative to ban gay marriage in California. Four groups ? the Society of American Law Teachers, the Legal Writing Institute, the AALS Section on Legal Writing Research and Reasoning, and the AALS Section on Teaching Methods ? have called for a boycott of sessions held at his hotels.

Although I have served as my school?s representative to the AALS House of Representatives for several years, I plan to honor the boycott. I have too many friends to whom this issue means too much for me not to do so. My parents' marriage was illegal in about half the United States for much of my childhood. Were Loving v. Virginia to be overturned, my own marriage would be illegal in some states even today. I therefore take the initiative personally.

For me, however, the issue is not ultimately political. It is rather whether, when our friends and colleagues ask for help, we help.

They?ve asked.

Full post as published by MoneyLaw on August 09, 2008 (boomark / email).