![handle is hein.journals/wflron7 and id is 1 raw text is: WISDOM, NOT NOISE: THE LAW PROFESSOR AS
POLICY INFLUENCER
David S. Levine
INTRODUCTION
Donald Trump's election as President of the United States has
caused many academics from across the political spectrum to
reconsider their research agendas, including whether and how they
can play a larger and more direct role in policy debates.1 For
example, a Facebook2 group titled the 11/9 Coalition focused on the
protection of civil liberties and the rule of law,3 was launched by
Hofstra Law Professor Irina Manta one day after the election and
* David S. Levine is an Associate Professor at Elon University School of
Law, a Fellow at Princeton's Center for Information Technology Policy, an
Affiliate Scholar at Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society, and
a Visiting Professor at Wake Forest University School of Law. The author
thanks Lorelei Kelly, Eric Goldman, Frank Pasquale, Sharon Sandeen, and
Chris Seaman for helpful comments and feedback. Thoughts about this topic
were presented at The Second Annual Mosaic Conference: Diverse Voices in IP
Scholarship at Marquette Law in March 2016. This article is dedicated in
memory of Professor Michael Rich of Elon University School of Law, a dear
friend, colleague, and inspiration, who left us far too soon. I welcome questions
and comments at dlevine3@elon.edu.
1. See, e.g., Tarleton Gillespie & Hector Postigo, At Culture Digitally,
We're Thinking About Our Scholarship in the Harsh Light of This Week,
CULTURE DIGITALLY (Nov. 10, 2016), httD:;/culturedigita1vor ,2016/11/at-
culture-digital]lv-were -thinking about-our-scholarship -n-the -harsh-light -of-this -
week/ (Yesterday was a surprising, difficult day for a lot of us. For many of us
based in the U.S., amidst whatever political feelings we were having, it spurred
us to think hard about our own work and research agendas, and how they
should shift to face new political realities. So some of us spent the day thinking
about what it is we do now and can do in the future.).
2. Social media itself is being heavily scrutinized due to the perceived
prevalence of fake news stories that may have influenced the outcome. See
Mark Zuckerberg Dead at 32 Denies Facebook Has Problem With Fake News,
THE SHOVEL (Nov. 17, 2016), httl://www.theshovel.com.au/2016/11/17/
mark- zuckerburg-dead-at-32-denies -facebook-has-problem-with-fake-news/. See
generally David S. Levine, The Social Layer of Freedom of Information Law, 90
N.C. L. REV. 1687 (2012).
3. Our Mission, 11/9 COALITION, http://119coalition.org/our-mission/ (last
visited Dec. 18, 2016) (The Mission Statement says that it is dedicated to
holding public servants, including elected officials, to their obligations to
preserve and defend the Constitution, without regard to their political
affiliation . . . [and] stands at the ready to employ, in line with these values,
both advocacy and legal action.). Disclosure: I was involved in the drafting of
the 11/9 Coalition's Mission Statement, and I am involved in its activities.
1](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/wflron7&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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