Ruth Anne Robbins, President of the Board of Directors of the Legal Writing Institute, has notified the AALS that it will not hold its customary award ceremony at the AALS annual meeting, if the meeting is held at the Grand Hyatt in San Diego.
The Legal Writing Institute has recently learned that Douglas Manchester, the owner of the Grand Hyatt Hotel in San Diego, California, has made a large contribution to support a ballot initiative seeking to deprive gay and lesbian citizens of the right to enter into marriages, as the California Supreme Court recently allowed. * * * After due consideration of the recent revelations, the Board of Directors of LWI has decided that it cannot, in good conscience, sponsor any event which would be held at a hotel owned by Mr. Manchester, because to spend LWI funds on such an event would be a direct violation of LWI’s non-discrimination policy.
Robbins’s full letter is here. I fully support LWI’s position.
Apparently, the AALS is working on a solution, but there is no indication on the AALS website of what that solution might be, nor have I received any communication from the AALS about the issue. Sections have been noticeably silent, too.
-Bridget Crawford
