The Harvard Crimson recently published an open-and-shut case of Professor Ogletree committing yet more plagiarism in the 2004 book which was apparently ghostwritten for him (at least in part) by students. Four sentences were lifted, with only minor wording changes, from a 1996 book by University of California professor Roy Brooks. Story here. New York Times followup story here.
Not entirely coincidentally, shortly after the Crimson story appeared, a website sprung up fully documenting all the details, including copies of the relevant pages of each book. It's authored by one "R.O. Denver." Here. Given the website, we see no need to offer our independent discussion.
Disclosure: "R.O. Denver" is a pseudonym for a law professor with whom we've corresponded in the past year, and we knew about the tip to the Crimson in advance (indeed, we suggested that Denver contact either the Boston Globe or the Crimson, given their past interest in Harvard plagiarism stories). For professional reasons the professor must remain anonymous, but the professor has authorized us to state that he or she teaches at a law school somewhere east of the Mississippi and is generally viewed as a political "conservative" (at least by heavily liberal law faculty standards), though that orientation had no role in the professor's decision to provide the tip (according to the professor).
News summaries and occasional commentary on the plagiarism charges made against Harvard scholars since 2002. Write us with tips and comments at AuthorSkeptics@Gmail.com
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
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