Erwin Chemerinsky

F ollowing his Sept. 4 hiring as the founding dean of UC Irvine’s law school and unexpected firing a week later, Duke University law professor Erwin Chemerinsky found himself at the center of a controversy. Chemerinsky maintained throughout the past two weeks that UCI Chancellor Michael Drake rescinded the job offer because he felt Chemerinsky was too “politically controversial.” Chemerinsky has never shied away from expressing his liberal views, occasionally writing op-ed pieces for national newspapers and taking on high-profile cases against the federal government.

Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor?s call last week to find stricter ways to crack down on illegal immigrants in the city may be too limited in the eyes of the law, one of the nation?s top constitutional lawyers said Friday. Before enforcing any laws, they would have to be within Costa Mesa?s purview. ?Generally, cities and states can?t enforce federal immigration laws,? said Erwin Chemerinsky, founding dean of the UC Irvine School of Law. ?Only federal law can do that, and Arizona will test that.

UC Irvine's law school dean and the Chapman University School of Law's former dean will battle it out Sept. 20 over the Constitution. UCI's Erwin Chemerinsky and Chapman's John Eastman, who serves as a visiting scholar at UC San Diego, will kick off Orange Coast College's Constitution Day by taking sides on the constitution for a debate. The free event, which is open to the public, will begin at 11 a.m. in the Robert B. Moore Theatre at OCC, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa.

UC Irvine School of Law Dean and constitutional law scholar Erwin Chemerinsky is scheduled to speak at Orange Coast College this morning on “The War on Terror ... and the Law.” Chemerinsky is scheduled to speak at the Robert B. Moore Theatre at 11 a.m. His talk is scheduled for 45 minutes, followed by a question-and-answer session by six students from the college. Admission is free. The talk is part of OCC’s Constitution Week. The week will feature talks by various scholars and screenings of the documentary “Taxi to the Dark Side.

Two Orange County law school deans will debate the Affordable Care Act on Wednesday. In celebration of Constitution Day, the founding dean of UC Irvine's law school, Erwin Chemerinsky, will debate John Eastman, former dean of the Chapman University School of Law. Orange Coast College's Social and Behavioral Sciences division is hosting the event at the campus. The two legal scholars will take sides on President Barack Obama's health-care plan. Last year they debated the Constitution during a similar event at OCC. The event is free and runs from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Robert B. Moore Theatre, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa.

In the wake of Thursday morning's 5-4 Supreme Court decision on President Obama's controversial health care legislation, National Public Radio (NPR) asked prominent scholars and lawyers for their take on the issue. Among those who provided legal analysis was Erwin Chemerinsky, the founding dean at the UC Irvine School of Law. “The Supreme Court's decision does not change the law in the way that striking down the law would have. Since 1937, not one federal taxing or spending program has been declared unconstitutional.

UC Irvine School of Law's first graduating class has outshined almost every other law school in California by passing the state bar at a higher rate. Ninety percent of UCI's 51 graduates passed the exam administered in July, and only Stanford, with a 94% pass rate for first-time test takers, ranked higher. UCI squeaked by schools like UCLA, 89% and USC, 88%, according to State Bar of California numbers. In November, UCI announced its 90% pass rate, well above the 77% average, but the state bar did not release a school-by-school breakdown until late last month.

South Korea doesn?t seem quite so distant, thanks to the new Korea Law Center at UC Irvine?s School of Law. The center is part of UCI?s new International Commerce and Law Institute, a multi-continental organization designed to facilitate the study of international law. ?It?s going to be a place where businesspeople, lawyers, scholars can learn and work together to overcome difficulties at the intersection of U.S.-Korea law,? said Rex Bossert, assistant dean for communications at the UCI law school.

UC Irvine School of Law's first graduating class is already competing with elite law schools, judging by one state standard. In the 2012 class, 46 of 51 students - 90% - passed the California bar exam on their first try in July, the university announced. That percentage is significantly higher than average. "I was thrilled, but of course, that's been our goal from the very beginning," said founding UCI Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky. He went into the program intent on building a top-20 law school.

No one denies that UCI Chancellor Michael Drake should have carte blanche decision-making powers when choosing his deans. Choosing the new dean of the planned UCI law school should be no different. So his decision to rescind an offer previously made to Duke University professor and noted legal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky was well within his rights. But the public, which has a vested interested in this institution of higher learning, also has a right to know why. Why was Chemerinsky offered the job in the first place if he wasn’t qualified?