ESU Students Travel to Philadelphia To Hear Author, Economist and Fox News Contributor Give Presentation, “Dumbing Down the Courts: How Politics Keeps the Smartest Judges Off the Bench”

Daniel Hagan (pictured left), a senior political science major from Dingmans Ferry, Pa., who is the chair of ESU’s extra-curricular affairs committee, and Kwaku Adjei Bohyen (pictured right), a senior political science major from Edison, N.J., who is the vice president of the ESU student senate, traveled to Philadelphia last month to hear author, economist and Fox News columnist and contributor John Lott Jr., Ph.D. (center), give a presentation titled, “Dumbing Down the Courts: How Politics Keeps the Smartest Judges Off the Bench.” Christopher Brooks, Dr. phil., associate professor of history at ESU and Adam McGlynn, Ph.D., assistant professor of political science at East Stroudsburg University made the trip but are not pictured.

Two East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania students traveled to Philadelphia last month to hear author, economist and Fox News columnist and contributor John Lott Jr., Ph.D., give a presentation titled, “Dumbing Down the Courts: How Politics Keeps the Smartest Judges Off the Bench.”

Kwaku Adjei Bohyen, a senior political science major from Edison, N.J., who is the vice president of the ESU student senate, and Daniel Hagan, a senior political science major from Dingmans Ferry, Pa., who is the chair of ESU’s extra-curricular affairs committee, heard Lott explain how the most talented lawyers, regardless of political party, faced longer confirmation proceedings and a lower probability of being confirmed as a federal judge.

Co-coordinators of the American Democracy Project at ESU Adam McGlynn, Ph.D., assistant professor of political science, and Christopher Brooks, Dr. phil., associate professor of history, accompanied Bohyen and Hagan at the presentation, which was sponsored by the Philadelphia Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society and was at the law offices of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP in Philadelphia.

“The presentation demonstrated how fierce partisanship by both parties in Washington has a tangible, negative impact on the American justice system,” McGlynn said. “The goal of the American Democracy Project at ESU for this academic year is to expose our student leaders to these types of issues in today’s government. We hope they will share their experiences with their fellow students in hopes of preparing them to deal with these problems as they graduate and become the next generation of leaders.”

Hagan left with a better, more intimate understanding of how politics can affect — and sometimes in a negative manner — the inner-workings of the judicial system.

“I thought the presentation was fantastic,” Hagan said. “I was very surprised to learn the more qualified a nominee to the court was, the less of a chance they had of being selected. The grip politics has on the judicial branch is astonishing; when it is supposed to be disconnected from politics.”

Students also benefited by meeting with local lawyers and inquiring about legal education and careers.

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