Attorney General Mukasey’s Defense of Irresponsibility

Attorney General Mukasey’s commencement speech at Boston College Law School did a disservice to the institution. First, it gave a platform to one whose position on torture is contrary to the humanitarian values of the school. Second, by encouraging students to divorce their own morals from their legal reasoning and simply “say what the law is,” it reduced the practice of law to a mere exercise in research, devoid of any of the principles for which the school (and legal education in general) stands. This Article addresses two issues surrounding Attorney General Michael Mukasey’s invitation to speak at Boston College Law School. First, his invitation undercut what we teach about the role of the lawyer. Second, the speech he gave was insulting to our graduates and unhelpful to our pedagogical goals