Constitutional Law

Under Pressure, Boston College Law School Will No Longer Give Award to A.G. Mukasey

In a reversal, Attorney General Michael Mukasey will not be awarded Boston College Law School's Founder's Medal when he speaks at commencement, according to a Boston Globe report. As reported on ACSBlog last month, students, faculty, and alumni criticized Mukasey's selection as commencement speaker because the Attorney General refused, during his confirmation hearings, to declare that waterboarding constitutes torture.

In a memorandum, Boston College Law School Dean Garvey wrote "With [the controversies that have arisen over commencement invitations] in mind, we have decided that in the future we will not routinely confer Founder’s medals at graduation – a rule that will apply to this and future years."

The Globe reports that critics say the announcement "was designed to defuse criticism and find a middle ground to avoid rescinding the invitation."

More information is available via Eagleionline, Boston College Law School's online student newspaper.

Full post as published by ACS Blog on March 05, 2008 (boomark / email).