Judge Calabresi’s letter of apology:

I couldn’t find a copy of the letter online, so I thought I’d keypunch it in. (It’s been publicly released by the Second Circuit.) Here it is:

June 24, 2004

The Honorable John M. Walker, Chief Judge

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit

157 Church Street

New Haven, CT 06510

Dear John,

I write you as Chief Judge to express my profound regret for my comments at last weekend’s American Constitution Society Conference. My remarks were extemporaneous and, in hindsight, reasonably could be — and indeed have been — understood to do something which I did not intend, that is, take a partisan position.

As you know, I strongly deplore the politicization of the judiciary and firmly believe that judges should not publicly support candidates or take political stands. Although what I was trying to do was make a rather complicated academic argument about the nature of reelections after highly contested original elections, that is not the way my words, understandably, have been taken. I can also see why this occurred, despite my statements at the time that what I was saying should not be construed in a partisan way. For that I am deeply sorry.

I will not take the time here to outline the non-partisan theoretical framework I was trying to develop. In retrospect, I fear that is properly the stuff only of an academic seminar. For, whatever I had in mind, what I actually said was too easily taken as partisan. That is something which judges should do their best to avoid, and there, I clearly failed.

Again, I am truly sorry and apologize profusely for the episode and most particularly for any embarrassment my remarks may have caused you, my colleagues, and the court.

You should feel free to share this letter with our colleagues.

Sincerely,

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For more on the controversy, see here, here, and here.