Harvard Plagiarism Archive: Professor Ogletree refuses to answer three basic "yes" or "no" questions posed by Dean Velvel

Harvard Plagiarism Archive

"[T]he problem of writers . . . passing off the work of others as their own . . . [is] a phenomenon of some significance."
PROFESSOR LAURENCE TRIBE, e-mail to Dean Lawrence Velvel, 9/13/2004

"'I . . . delegated too much responsibility to others . . .,' [Prof. Charles Ogletree] said. 'I was negligent
in not overseeing more carefully the final product that carries my name.' * * * Ogletree told The Crimson that
he had not read the passage of Balkin’s book that appears in his own work. An assistant inserted the material
into a manuscript . . . . But Ogletree said he was closely involved in most of the drafting of the book . . . ."
STEVEN MARKS, "Ogletree Faces Discipline for Copying Text," The Harvard Crimson, 9/13/2004

"'Ronald Klain . . . then only a first-year student at Harvard law . . . spent most of his time with
Tribe working on Tribe's [1985] book God Save This Honorable Court,'" the Legal Times added in 1993.
* * * 'Many of Klain's friends and former colleagues say that he wrote large sections of the book . . . .'"
JOSEPH BOTTUM, "The Big Mahatma," The Weekly Standard, 10/4/2004

"[A]fter several plagiarism scandals broke over distinguished faculty members at Harvard's law school, including
Laurence Tribe,a group of students there set up a blog, Harvard Plagiarism Archive, to follow the University's
handling of the problem. They believe that the University, President Summers, and Dean Elena Kagan
essentially white-washed the scandal and are demanding further action.
PROF. RALPH LUKER, History News Network's "Cliopatria" blog,4/26/2005

“The Tribe and Ogletree matters have catalyzed bitter complaints from Harvard students that the university
employs a double standard. . . . The students have every right to be incensed over this gross double standard.
They in fact ought to raise hell peacefully about it: a constant barrage of letters, emails, statements . . . .”
DEAN LAWRENCE VELVEL, "Velvel on National Affairs" blog, 4/28/2005

"If you want to keep track of this story, I recommend the new Harvard Plagiarism Archive. . . . [I]t's pretty thorough."
TIMOTHY NOAH, Slate's "Chatterbox" blog,9/28/2004

"[Y]ou have done a wonderful service to all by operating the AuthorSkeptics website . . . a fine public service."
DEAN LAWRENCE VELVEL, author of "Velvel on National Affairs," e-mail to AuthorSkeptics, 4/19/2005

Saturday, November 20, 2004

Professor Ogletree refuses to answer three basic "yes" or "no" questions posed by Dean Velvel

In a remarkable e-mail exchange with Dean Velvel, spurred largely by Professor Ogletree's own apparently incorrect statements about what Dean Velvel supposedly had said about him, Professor Ogletree has apparently indicated he is unwilling -- at least until his schedule clears up a bit -- to answer three basic "yes" or no" questions posed by Dean Velvel designed to resolve various amibiguities in Professor Ogletree's own past statements, and is equally unwilling to make the two statements Dean Velvel suggested that Professor Ogletree could make to resolve ambiguities in his past statements which, if true, would clear up once and for all the charge that parts of the book in question were drafted not by him, but by one or more ghostwriters.

We will likely revisit this matter in a future post, but for now here are the links:

Professor Ogletree's November 6 e-mail and Dean Velvel's November 10 reply, here.

Judge Posner's note to Dean Velvel complimenting him on his reply, here.

Professor Ogletree's November 10 e-mail and Dean Velvel's November 11 reply, here.

Professor Ogletree's November 14 e-mail and Dean Velvel's November 16 reply, here.

Harvard Plagiarism Archive