What a moron... kick this joke out of the school...
http://abovethelaw.com/2011/05/a-law-student-plays-the-race-card-and-gets-busted-big-time/
"herp derp!"
http://abovethelaw.com/2011/05/a-law-student-plays-the-race-card-and-gets-busted-big-time/
Its time for more race-related drama from UVA Law School. Back in February, Elie wrote about a UVA Law party that featured Confederate flag decor. Now I will tell you about a 3Ls fabricated tale of racial harassment by university police.
(Yes, Lats writing this story. So you can relax, UVA folks at least for now. Maybe Elie will take a crack at it on Monday.)
In late April, Johnathan Perkins, a third-year law student at UVA, wrote a letter to the editor that was published in Virginia Law Weekly, the law schools student newspaper. In his letter, Perkins claimed that he was harassed by UVA university police while walking home from a party, purportedly on account of his race (hes African-American). Perkins said he was moved to share the story because it is important for my classmates to hear a real-life anecdote illustrating the myth of equal protection under the law.
The trouble is, it was anything but a real-life anecdote, as Perkins himself recently confessed .
If Perkinss intent was to spark a discussion, he succeeded. Virginia Law Weekly ran a companion piece to the letter in its April 22 edition, in which a reporter interviewed members of the faculty about the incident. Students discussed the story with one another, over lunch and at parties. Heres what one had to say:
University officials conducted an investigation to get to the bottom of what happened. And heres what they found, according to UVAs recent press release (reprinted in full below):Personally I was touched by [Perkins's] letter. He wrote it well, without vindictiveness, but seeking for understanding. It worked. I was so shocked that this had happened and I knew that something like this would never happen to me as a white student here. And since this had actually happened in my town, to a fellow law student of my same age and basic social surroundings, it made racial profiling so much more real to me. Many other law students had similar reactions.
On May 5, after a thorough investigation into allegations that University of Virginia police officers had mistreated an African-American law student, the individual acknowledged that his story had been a fabrication.Wow thats actually kind of impressive. Go back and read Perkinss letter. Its dramatic, describing the two different worlds that whites and African-Americans supposedly inhabit, and invoking the names of police brutality victims Amadou Diallo and Abner Louima. And its detailed, with descriptions of how Perkins was supposedly manhandled by the officers, as well as lines of dialogue from the encounter (Oh, hes a law student.).I wrote the article to bring attention to the topic of police misconduct, he said in a written statement. The events in the article did not occur.
And to think that it was all made up. If this whole law thing doesnt work out for Perkins, he could explore a career as a novelist or screenwriter.
Whats going to happen to Perkins? Will he be charged with filing a false report? Apparently not, according to the UVA press release:
So Johnathan Perkins wont face criminal charges as a result of his misrepresentations. But he will face the scorn and anger of UVA classmates and alumni. Heres what one had to say:I recognize that police misconduct does occur, [university police chief Michael Gibson] said. Pressing charges in this case might inhibit another individual who experiences real police misconduct from coming forward with a complaint. I want to send the message just how seriously we take such charges and that we will always investigate them with care and diligence.
From a second source (the one who said he was initially moved by the Perkins letter):Im pretty disgusted any one of my classmates would think so lowly of other people as to put their jobs in jeopardy to make a point. Especially when that point is that you have to fabricate police misconduct to show that it happens (which obviously isnt true, but thats the point he ended up making). Im not pro-police by any means, but that still doesnt justify what this kid did.
And a third:I personally feel so betrayed by the fact that this story was made up. It hurts because the story had seriously affected me, and now every time I hear a story of racially based police misconduct this is going to be the memory that will pop into my head. And Ill try to fight it off, but every REAL story from someone who faced something similar will be laced with the memory of this phony story fabricated to manipulate my heart-strings. Its a sham on UVA students, and a slap in the face to every real victim of racially motivated police misconduct.
Ah yes the UVA Honor Code. Lets look at that now. Its a single sanction system, meaning that theres one punishment for violations, and that punishment is dismissal i.e., one strike and youre out. A tipster explained it to us in more detail:I think that its really sad and troubling that Jonathan Perkins would feel the need to make up racial incidents because these sort of events do happen in real life. When people make up stories about racial harassment, it jades people to times when racism really does occur. I think his actions have hurt and embarrassed not just himself, but UVA, the professors who got involved in trying to help him, the police officers defamed, and the Charlottesville community at large. As a future attorney, Jonathan should know better
Also, I am not sure but I think he may have violated the UVA Honor Code by filing a false police report. This is a serious breach of the standards we hold to at UVA.
Heres the opinion of a second source:The UVa Honor code is championed by the community. In fact, the UVa website states:
Today students at the University make a commitment not to lie, cheat, or steal within Charlottesville, Albemarle County, or where they represent themselves as University students in order to gain the trust of others. Because of this commitment, theres a strong degree of trust among the various members of the University community. Students are also expected to conduct themselves with integrity and are presumed honorable until proven otherwise.
Perkins is set to graduate on May 22, despite the fact that he lied to the UVa Law community, the university community, Charlottesville, and Albemarle County. As the Honor Committee states, the three criteria of a violation are: act, intent, and seriousness. Perkins knew he was lying, acted upon that fabrication by sending the story to the Virginia Law Weekly and local media outlets, and the seriousness of the situation is exemplified by the internal investigation that was started and the widespread publicity the story got in the local media outlets. This conduct is a blatant and intentional violation of the honor code and should be taken seriously.
If the honor committee does not take action against this simply because Perkins is supposed to graduate in two weeks, it undercuts the entire Honor Code system at UVa. Should a UVa law student be immune from violating the honor code simply because hes so close to graduation? Of course not; this is a public and egregious violation of the honor code that brings shame on the entire UVa community and should be dealt with swiftly and justly, before Perkins is allowed to graduate, if he should be allowed to graduate at all.
I dont think the Law School should confer a degree on this student. In addition to being a clear violation of the Universitys honor code, his conduct is criminal. He should feel lucky that the police will not press charges against him. Regardless of the seriousness of the problems that he sought to raise awareness of, his means of doing so are inexcusable. He should have written an editorial about police misconduct instead of fabricating an incident.
What would possess someone in Johnathan Perkinss shoes to do such a thing? Aside from the unethical nature of lying, in a way that could have gotten police officers fired, he ran the risk of getting caught as he ultimately did.
(Note how he claimed, in his letter, I saw dozens of people staring at me [being apprehended by police] . If none of these dozens of people could be produced to discuss the incident, wouldnt that cause people to question his tale?)
Could Johnathan Perkins suffer from some mental health issue that caused him to act in this way? Perhaps he will invoke a mental-health justification if called to defend himself against Honor Code charges. Cf. Jayson Blair, Burning Down My Masters House: My Life at the New York Times(memoir by former New York Times reporter caught in fabrication and plagiarism scandal,suggesting that the stress of being African-American in an elite environment like that of the Times may have contributed to his unethical actions).
Weve reached out to Perkins for comment but have not heard back from him; if and when we do, we will update this post. Word on the street is that hes scheduled to be joining a firm next year (although we dont know which firm; if you do, please email us). We also understand that Perkins was a Peer Adviser this past year a sort of mentor to 1Ls. Right now hes not looking like the best role model.
Readers, what do you think? Should Johnathan Perkins be allowed to receive his J.D. after what he did? Read the links and press release collected below, discuss in the comments, and vote in our poll.
"herp derp!"
