n a normal day, the Columbia Law Review’s website is not a feast for the eyes. What it lacks in visual appeal, it makes up for with a panoply of articles and student notes addressing a range of legal issues. But for much of last week, the website displayed just a single line: “Website is under maintenance.”
To justify censorship, those opposed to publishing Eghbariah’s pieces pointed to procedure. CLR’s board of directors alleged “process deviations” as justification for shutting down the journal’s entire website to block the piece. And back in November, several HLR editors, in persuading their peers to vote down Eghbariah’s essay,Appeals to process carry a veneer of objectivity.
In each case, those signing off on banning student groups or voting to silence scholars are unlikely to say explicitly that they were influenced by external pressure or sought to block certain viewpoints.