Why I Write (and Why I Think Law Professors Generally Should Write)

Abstract

Looking back on forty-five years of law review writing, Professor Kamisar concludes that, to use George Orwell's words, he has been moved to write by "a sense of injustice" and the need to "expose" "some lie," e.g., the lie that the trial judge or the prosecuting attorney can be counted on to protect the rights of unrepresented defendants. He maintains further that law professors generally should feel an obligation to write because they can think through and research exhaustively any and every problem they meet along the way without worrying about billable hours and they can do so "under working conditions that thousands of busy, hurried practitioners would envy."