Calif Law Students Organize Against the War

More than 300 students from eight law schools across California have joined together to voice dissent to the Bush administration's ill-defined war on terrorism. The law students published a full-page advertisement in the Western Edition of the New York Times denouncing the Bush administration’s attack on the Constitution.

The $19,000 ad was paid for by $25 donations from law students with support from law faculty, staff, and community members. Law students joined the campaign from UC-Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law; UC-Davis School of Law; UC-Hastings School of Law; Stanford Law School; Golden Gate University School of Law; Thomas Jefferson School of Law; University of San Diego School of Law; and New College of California School of Law.

Describing her interest in the Wake Up About the War campaign, Forest Wilkerson, a law student at the University of San Diego School of Law said, “It is precisely during times of heightened fears that our national commitment to democracy and civil liberties is tested. I fear that we will pay the price for any retreat from our democratic values during this time for generations to come.”

The law students formed the campaign because they recognize that the United States is a government of laws and not of individuals. The boundless war on terrorism declared by the Bush administration, they assert, destroys the legal foundations upon which our country was established. They could no longer remain quite as the Bush administration erodes civil liberties, undermines international institutions, blurs the separation of powers, and wreaks havoc in the communities they serve both here and abroad.

"This war is a serious abrogation of the legal principles that are the hallmark of our democracy," said Boalt Hall student Abby Reyes. "With this advertisement, we hope to send the message that future lawyers and lawmakers should not be held responsible for today’s destruction of our core Constitutional values."

In addition to the advertisement, law students throughout California have held conferences and panel discussions about the illegality of the Bush administration's policies. Many students have also begun to volunteer at free legal clinics to provide assistance for some of those most directly affected by the Bush administration.