Just finished an #AALS2018 panel on intellectual diversity with @JoshMBlackman @Laura_K_Donohue and @rmaccoun (moderated by @RandyEBarnett )
We all agree intellectual diversity is important, but not necessarily what it means or why it is important. 1/x

Our panel was preceded by statistics on campaign contributions and other information about the political affiliation of law professors. While I appreciate that most people probably think of intellectual diversity in term of whether a prof identifies as liberal or conservative 2/

As I said in my remarks, I don't think that ideological diversity in law schools ought to be conflated with the political views of law professors. What matters is whether we have sufficient heterogeneity of views in legal scholarship. 3/

I really don't care who another prof voted for in the 2016 election. I care whether the prof disagrees with me on the appropriate scope of the Sixth Amendment or the desirability of judicial oversight in plea bargaining. 4/

Having colleagues who disagree with me on legal issues makes my scholarship better. Having colleagues who disagree with my non-legal political views is no more relevant to my life as a law professor than having colleagues who disagree with my ranking of Star Wars movies. 5/

Anyway--it was a great panel and I look forward to talking more about this important issue. /end