February 27, 2019
Martin Drake
President
Harvard Law School Forum
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
Dear President Drake:
You are an honorable man. Board Members of the Harvard Law School Forum are honorable. That explains my chagrin at the surprise O Henry ending to my invitation to address the Forum about limitless executive power on March 1, 2019.
Without notice or an opportunity to be heard, the Board summarily disinvited me because of a professed “slight” disagreement over the Armenian genocide claim–a topic irrelevant to the Board’s invitation. Board Members delivered their guilty verdict anonymously. They hid behind the skirts of Ms. Radhika Bora, who served as an internet intercessor.
The disinvitation process equaled if not bettered the instruction of Spanish Grand Inquisitor Tomas de Torquemada sans the auto da fe. Legendary Harvard Law School Professors Laurence Tribe and Alan Dershowitz were appalled.
Intellectual courage and wisdom are made of sterner stuff. Voltaire would defend to the death the right of opponents to speak. What a vertical plunge to the Harvard Law School Forum’s Board of Censors.
I shall wear its disinvitation as a badge of honor.
In the spirit of Voltaire, however, I am inviting Board Members to defend their disinvitation decision at the National Press Club in the First Amendment Room in Washington D.C. Members can select the moderator and prescribe the debate format, time, and date. I will pay all travel and lodging expenses. Please R.S.V.P. at your earliest convenience.
Very truly yours,
Bruce Fein, HLS ’72