Stanford Puts Diversity Dean Who Berated Federal Judge on Leave

Stanford Law School’s diversity administrator, Tirien Steinbach, who led a disruptive protest against Fifth Circuit appellate judge Kyle Duncan, is currently on leave. This was confirmed in a memo regarding the protest, which was reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon.

Jenny Martinez, the dean of the law school, informed all law students that administrators are not allowed to insert themselves into a debate with their personal criticism of the speaker’s views. The role of administrators in future talks is to make sure that university rules on the disruption of events will be followed.

Martinez did not give additional details on the terms of Steinbach’s leave, citing the university’s policy of not commenting on personnel matters. She also ruled out disciplining any of the students who shouted down Duncan, stating that administrators sent conflicting signals about whether the disruption was acceptable or not.

In lieu of discipline, the law school will require all students to attend training on freedom of speech and the norms of the legal profession. The training will discuss how vulgar personal insults can cause harm to students’ professional reputations. This appears to be in response to the protestors who hurled sexual invective at Duncan.

Martinez issued a formal apology to Duncan twenty-four hours later after the initial statement, saying staff members had “intervened in inappropriate ways that are not aligned with the university’s commitment to free speech.” Steinbach stole the podium from the judge during Duncan’s talk to accuse him of causing harm.

There have been calls from Senator Ted Cruz and others to investigate the hecklers by state bar associations, which could potentially delay their legal licenses.

Martinez hoped to wait until after final exams to address the situation. However, due to continuing outside attention and the volume of hateful and threatening messages being directed at members of the community, she decided that a more immediate statement was necessary.

The memo spent several pages explaining to students at Stanford Law School that the Constitution does not protect disruptive heckling. Settled First Amendment law allows many governmental restrictions on heckling to protect the countervailing interest in free speech. The Leonard Law, a California state statute, applies aspects of the First Amendment to private universities but does not treat every setting as a public forum that allows a free-for-all for speech.