There was a wild scene at the home of UC Berkeley Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and his wife Professor Catherine Fisk on April 9. 

He had invited some third-year law students to dinner on three separate days in recognition of their achievements, which is a very nice gesture. He might regret doing so in the future because of what happened. April 9 was the first night of dinners. 

Even before the dinner happened, there were students spreading vile posters telling people to boycott the dinners and specifically attacking Chemerinsky, who is Jewish. The poster showed a picture of Chemerinsky holding a fork and knife covered in blood. 

“No dinner with Zionist Chem while Gaza starves,” it said. 

The dinner took place in their backyard. But the dinner started to go really south when a female 3rd year student Malak Afaneh stood up and wanted to speak about Ramadan and people she said were dying in Gaza. Here's a longer version of the incident. 

Chemerinsky asked her to leave. Fisk then tried to take her microphone saying, "It is not your house, it is my house and I want you to leave. "

Alfaneh insisted that she had spoken to the National Lawyers Guild and that they said she had a First Amendment right to speak. She then also claimed that Fisk had assaulted her, even suggesting she was touching her inappropriately in the breast area. She suggested that they would be taking some kind of procedural or legal action against Fisk and Chemerinsky. 

Civil rights attorney Laura Powell weighed in she didn't think the claim about the First Amendment or the assault claim was going to fly. 

I appeared on this @KTVU news segment, which unfortunately grants far too much air time to Malak Afaneh, the law student who disrupted the Berkeley dean’s dinner. But it’s interesting to hear her thinking. She seems pretty smug for someone who claims to have suffered an attack. pic.twitter.com/HLAUqoCyqu

— Laura Powell (@LauraPowellEsq) April 11, 2024

The dean also issued a statement decrying the posters which he termed "anti-semitic" and offensive. He said he was very said that students would use this occasion for their "political agenda." He said he would be continuing the other two dinners but with security. “Any student who disrupts will be reported to student conduct and a violation of the student conduct code is reported to the bar.”

According to the Los Angeles Times, Chemerinsky made it clear it was in his private home. 

“The house is privately owned by my wife and me. The mortgage is our names. It is on a street in Oakland. It is not owned by the university, on university property, or in any way paid for by the university,” Chemerinsky said in an interview with The Times. “It is private property, and the 1st Amendment simply does not apply there. No one has the right to come into my house, or yours, and disrupt a dinner. As a matter of constitutional law, this is absolutely clear.”

It looks like the school, at least for now, is standing with Chemerinsky. 

“I am appalled and deeply disturbed by what occurred at Dean Chemerinsky’s home last night,” UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ said in a statement. “I have been in touch with him to offer my support and sympathy. While our support for free speech is unwavering, we cannot condone using a social occasion at a person’s private residence as a platform for protest.”

In an interview, University of California President Michael Drake called the incident “very unfortunate.”

UC Board of Regents Chair Rich Leib said he condemned the student’s actions and called it “deplorable.... The individuals that targeted this event did so simply because it was hosted by a dean who is Jewish. These actions were antisemitic, threatening, and do not reflect the values of this university.”

It's a horrible thing for the dean and his professor wife when they invite people into their home and get this in return. 

But this is Berkeley and George Washington law professor Jonathan Turley has a great comment on that.

We now have a culture of disruption that has been consistently fostered by academics and administrators on our campuses. When asked “why the home of a dean?,” these students would likely shrug and answer “why not?”

In that sense, this is the ultimate example of the chickens literally coming home to roost. These students have been enabled for years into believing that such acts of disruption are commendable and that others must yield in the cancellation of events. For weeks, they demanded that these dinners be halted despite other students wanting to attend. In that sense, the appearance in an actual home is alarming, but hardly unexpected in our current environment.

That's exactly right. They may realize now how out of hand it's gotten but it's a bit late. 

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