Hey Jeff Sessions, THIS Is How You Deal With Protesters At A Law School

When Attorney General Jeff Sessions appeared at Georgetown last week to announce his commitment to free speech, he did so from behind a school-sanctioned wall to prevent him from hearing from any students or faculty who might not agree with him. While forever linking “free speech” to a propagandistic set piece provided sufficient irony to fuel a Twilight Zone marathon — even if it’s wholly in keeping with the conservative view of free speech as the right to lecture without any corresponding right to dissent from that message — the antics of last week would be no more acceptable if the subject of the talk wasn’t so jarringly dissonant.

More than one conservative-leaning defender of the Sessions charade last week pointed to Georgetown’s interest in keeping powerful people comfortable. “No one,” they claim, would show up to speak to students if they knew they would be yelled at. On its face that’s a reasonable argument, but it loses its luster when pursued to its logical end. A public official with immense power over the rights of all Americans is unwilling to face criticism? With great power comes great responsibility, as the great moral philosopher Stan Lee might say. And that responsibility should include being prepared to defend your actions in public.

Which is why a public appearance days by former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara mere days before the infamous Sessions event is the perfect counter to this flawed line of reasoning.

On September 19, the Sorensen Center for International Peace and Justice at CUNY School of Law brought Preet Bharara to campus to discuss “Public Corruption and The Rule of Law.” It’s a subject Bharara has a particular interest in.

But Bharara’s appearance wasn’t without its share of protesters. While he draws the most attention for his efforts to crack down on public corruption and to bring some measure of justice to bear on Wall Street — not to mention his summary dismissal — his tenure at the U.S. Attorney’s Office included its share of controversy. His massive sweep of the North Bronx raised accusations of overreach and a perception that the most vulnerable populations of New York City were being harassed in the name of a vague effort to crack down on “gangs.” Over a hundred people were indicted in the sweep and the fallout reached beyond the accused, forcing Bronx residents — like the mother of one of those arrested — out of their homes.

Fighting crime involves tough decisions. Prosecutors hold so many of the cards in any criminal case that every action they take cannot be judged by “success” alone. Getting a guilty plea out of a poor person on the wrong side of the federal government’s awesome power isn’t enough to guarantee that a prosecutor’s done the right thing. That’s why a good prosecutor has to consider a broader sense of justice and consider whether or not their actions — and the related consequences — are really protecting the people they serve.

This is where Bharara provides a foil to Jeff Sessions. According to an observer at the CUNY event, when protesters showed up, Bharara didn’t shrink from their presence and invited questions from the audience (perhaps the most pointed question comes at 52:45 mark in the video below). Whether or not you agree with how Bharara handled the North Bronx, he understands that he’s responsible for his actions as a public servant and that he has an obligation to face that criticism and if called upon to explain himself, even if people disagree.

While Sessions and his supporters like to pretend that honest disagreement isn’t possible and cast everyone without a MAGA hat as a wild-eyed Antifa brick-thrower, the fact of the matter is most dissenters want to engage in discourse. They want to question, they want to challenge, they want to draw the audience to their side in a battle of wits. One of the threats posed by building these gilded shelters from criticism for eggshells like Sessions is the atrophy of pointed dissent. If you can’t be heard unless you yell, then all you’re ever going to do is yell. And while there’s nothing wrong with yelling from time to time, in the end, it’s a broad swipe in a world that sometimes calls for the surgical takedown. It’s harder to blow off a pointed critique than a broad complaint — that’s why there’s such a concerted effort to keep dissent locked outside yelling to be heard instead of providing a microphone. And the longer protest stays outside, the less practiced it’ll be when given a chance.

Officials don’t need to cower from criticism. They can stand up and invite questions that may be uncomfortable like any other grown up.

We should probably demand this actually.

You can watch Bharara’s entire interview below:

The Eggshell Attorney General [Slate]

Earlier: Law School Snowflakes Demand Safe Space Over Jeff Sessions Talk

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Joe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.