Daniel Farber

Milo’s college tour and the First Amendment: An explainer

Ian Haney López, Jesse Choper, Daniel Farber, and Robert Cole quoted by California Magazine, Jan. 26, 2017

López: “When universities invite someone to speak, they communicate that that person’s ideas are within the broad range of important public [discourse],” Haney-Lopez states. “Disinviting someone from speaking likewise communicates something—in this case, that the universities have come to realize that this speaker intentionally degrades people to draw attention, while offering little of any real intellectual substance. His poisonous invective is being drowned out by more and louder speech affirming humane values and inclusion. That’s precisely the ideal of free speech in action.”

Choper: “On the one hand, you have to have a content-neutral basis for [any] regulation [that might impinge on free speech],” says Jesse Choper, a professor emeritus at Berkeley Law, “and on the other, your assessment must be based on the perceived danger of such speech. So in a way, you’re forbidden to make a judgment, and you’re also required to make a judgment.”

Farber: “The Supreme Court has emphasized that the First Amendment is intended to protect ‘uninhibited, robust, and wide-open,’ public debate,” Farber stated in an email, “so in terms of general principles, it seems to me that universities should be very hesitant to exclude a speaker or viewpoint simply because it is offensive or disruptive.”

Cole: In the case of Cal, says Cole, “Berkeley College Republicans is a university-sanctioned organization, and if, as it seems, it issued an invitation and arranged an engagement in accordance with university rules, then the university must allow the event. The university’s role is to remain a neutral marketplace. It can’t cancel a speaking event simply because a speaker is considered controversial, or officials are worried that it could result in bad publicity, or things could get raucous.”

Abe Lincoln’s constitution

Daniel Farber interviewed by Podomatic, Your Weekly Constitutional, Dec. 23, 2016

“The entire nature of the constitution was kind of up for grabs with one school of thought, primarily in the South, thinking that the constitution was more or less like a treaty between independent states. … Whereas the other school of thought, which was represented by Lincoln, thought that the U.S. was not just an association of sovereign states, that it was a real nation. And that citizens of the United States had a direct relationship to the federal government.”

What Trump’s energy and environment cabinet picks mean for CA

Daniel Farber quoted by KPCC-FM, Dec. 15, 2016

“California is a biological hot spot in terms of biological diversity. We also have a lot of development pressures, and administration of the Endangered Species Act is really important,” said Dan Farber. … Zinke could instruct the US Fish and Wildlife service’s biologists to favor agricultural and development interests over efforts to protect endangered species, Farber said.

Stronger together? A blueprint for a blue state alliance

Jennifer Granholm and Dan Farber quoted by California Magazine, Dec. 5, 2016

“We have to get better at process strategies,” says Jennifer Granholm. … “The Republicans have been diligently building candidate pipelines for many years, and we’re just not as good at that. We have to do a better job of recruiting our bench. Right now it’s not very deep.”

“Trump has power, but most of the things he wants to do can’t be done with the stroke of a pen,” Farber says. “He’ll have to work with Congress, and as we know, even members of his own party don’t see eye-to-eye with him on a lot of things. And in any case, it’s always hard for Congress to get anything done. The courts are also a possible check. Democrats can’t sugarcoat the election results, but that doesn’t mean they’re not in the game.”

About that octopus in the parking garage

Daniel Farber co-writes for Miami Herald, Dec. 4, 2016

In short, the Octopus in the Parking Garage is a wake-up call about the need to start confronting the reality of climate change. This call is nonpartisan. After all, Trump’s famous retreat, Mar-a-Lago, is on the Florida coast, too.

These Californians want to break away from the United States

Daniel Farber quoted by BuzzFeed News, Nov. 22, 2016

Daniel Farber … described the odds of California breaking away from the United States as “one in a billion.” …“It’d be like doing Brexit only harder,” Farber said. “We’d have to negotiate over trade, passports, and travel. We’d have to negotiate over the Colorado River and whether we could get water out of that.”

Trump threat fires up U.S. climate activists, draws in more

Dan Farber quoted by Reuters, Nov. 12, 2016

Dan Farber … said the best that advocates for climate change action could hope for from courts is to “play successful defense against an anti-environmental onslaught” from the new administration. “It’s a fairly grim situation,” he added.