Want to Appear Before a Judge Who Calls You A Femifascist?

Me neither. Robert H. Dierker Jr. is a circuit judge of the Twenty-Second Judicial Circuit of Missouri who authored a book called: The Tyranny of Tolerance. According to Random House, Dierker “shows how the courts enable left-wing activists to ram their dangerous agenda down the throats of the American people.” Chapter One is reportedly entitled “The Cloud Cuckooland of Radical Feminism,” and uses the term “femifascists.” In addition:

The first chapter was heavily discussed at the recent holiday party for the Women Lawyers’ Association of Greater St. Louis.

One judge who attended noted, “Everyone’s just pretty much shocked.”

Association President Lynn Ricci said, “I have read it. I find it disturbing.” She also said, “I frankly think that it is a shame that this very smart man has lowered himself to name-calling.”

Although Ricci said she has not studied the chapter, she said, “It appears that he’s cloaking his own personal preferences against women in alleged legal research and a partial examination of the law.”

And…

Dierker said that he had to be “polemical” in the book to get attention, and said “controversy is inevitable.” But, he said, the controversy may draw attention to an issue that is permeating the law and the judiciary. “If I wrote a law review article, who would read it?” he asked.

–Ann Bartow