I spotted this on my feed this morning, and the different reactions are humorous.

Conservative judges say they will boycott Columbia University students

The judges accused Columbia of becoming “ground zero for the explosion of student disruptions, anti-semitism, and hatred for diverse viewpoints on campuses.”

By Tobi Raji | Tuesday, May 7, 2024 | 6:42 PM EDT

More than a dozen conservative federal judges are threatening to not hire law clerks who attend Columbia University or its law school starting this fall — an attempt to show the judges’ displeasure over the institution’s handling of pro-Palestinian protests.

The Washington Post illustrated its article with a photo showing a sign carried by one of the protesters, which said, in big, red, sloppy letters, “Trustees: You’ve lost the student’s trust”. But what is really happening is that the irresponsible and anti-Semitic protesters have lost the judges’ trust, and the larger people’s trust. And they’ve certainly lost mine when they don’t know enough English to realize that it should have been “students’ trust,” not “student’s trust.”

In a letter addressed to Minouche Shafik, the embattled president of Columbia University, and Gillian Lester, dean of Columbia Law School, 13 judges nominated by President Donald Trump said the university has become “ground zero for the explosion of student disruptions, anti-semitism, and hatred for diverse viewpoints on campuses across the Nation.”

“As judges who hire law clerks every year to serve in the federal judiciary, we have lost confidence in Columbia as an institution of higher education,” the judges wrote. “Columbia has instead become an incubator of bigotry. As a result, Columbia has disqualified itself from educating the future leaders of our country.”

There’s more at the original.

As we have previously reported, several major corporate CEOs have said that they would not hire Harvard students who signed a stupid document blaming Israel for Hamas’ October 7^th attack, and at least one CEO has said he will never again hire anyone from Harvard, MIT, or Penn following the three presidents’ debacle. Why, it’s almost as though actually responsible people have decided that hiring anti-Semites is irresponsible.

The lead signatories include Judges Elizabeth L. Branch of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit; James C. Ho of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit; and Matthew H. Solomson of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, who became known across the nation for his decision to suspend federal approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, also signed onto the letter.

Federal judges hire top law school graduates for prestigious year-long clerkships. The clerks conduct legal research; prepare bench memos; draft orders and opinions; and assist their judge during courtroom proceedings, gaining valuable work experience and job recommendations to help launch their legal careers.

The boycott, announced this week, would not apply to students already enrolled at the university. Instead, the 13 judges wrote in the letter that they would not hire any student who attends Columbia University as an undergraduate or a law student beginning in the coming academic year.

This is an interesting provision, because it means that the judges are giving Columbia University a chance to institute reform measures.

Then we have the Usual Suspects, as the (supposedly) moderate Democrat journal, The New Republic, tells us that “The Right-Wing Judges’ Ban on Columbia Students Is Wildly Unethical: Thirteen conservative judges say they won’t hire from the university—a blatant abuse of their judicial office.”

Judges do not comment on politics. This principle is so fundamental to the American legal system that writing it out feels like writing that “doctors treat patients” or “pilots fly planes.” When judges take political stances or opine on political disputes, it undermines the integrity of the federal courts and the confidence that Americans have in the judicial system’s fairness and impartiality.

The magazine’s position is hardly surprising, given their support to the pro-Palestinian/pro-Hamas protesters, but it becomes truly laughable when you consider how strongly they have supported the clearly biased-against-President-Trump the judges in the legal cases against him have been.

It could be claimed that the 13 judges, all appointees of President Trump as the credentialed media desperately want everyone to know, something which elevates my opinions of those judges, are painting with too broad a brush here, but I do not believe so. CNN pointed out:

The judges also write that unlawfully trespassing and occupying public spaces is sufficient basis to warrant incarceration.

“Universities should also identify students who engage in such conduct so that future employers can avoid hiring them. If not, employers are forced to assume the risk that anyone they hire from Columbia may be one of these disruptive and hateful students,” the judges wrote.

Herman Wouk, in his historical novel The Winds of War, noted that the universities went over to the Nazis “in a body,” even before the Nazis came to power. University students are (supposedly) intelligent, but are far too easily radicalized, because intelligence does not equal maturity, and the pro-Palestinian, pro-Hamas protests have strongly manifested themselves in anti-Semitic tones and language as well.

Anti-Semitism has to be fought, and fought hard, wherever it rears its ugly head, and while it can be argued that the judges here are painting with too broad a brush, they are doing what they can. Without specific identification of the anti-Semitic, pro-Hamas demonstrators, how can anyone really know who are and are not involved in the protests? As far as I am concerned, those [insert plural slang term for the anus here] can go chase ambulances for a living.

Perhaps, just perhaps, this will give top law school grads from non-Ivy League schools a better chance. I’d note here that the University of Kentucky had its own pro-Palestinian protest, but it was held entirely legally and non-threateningly. Maybe students in the heartland have a bit more maturity and common sense than the elites in the Ivy League?