The Search for Truth at ALF (part 1)
Last night I began my quest for statements from the web site of the Atlantic Legal Foundation with which I might agree.
It is going to be an uphill battle. The first sentence appearing on ALF's home page reads:
"ATLANTIC LEGAL FOUNDATION is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public interest law firm whose mission is to advance the rule of law by advocating limited, effective government, free enterprise, individual liberty and sound science."
Nonprofit? ALF does appear to be organized as a 501(c)(3) corporation, and says it operates on funds donated by "private foundations, corporations and individuals."
Nonpartisan? One detects no formal affiliation with the Republican, Democratic, or Green parties. But a certain ideological tilt is apparent from the positions taken in ALF's various published briefs. In fairness, ALF says "nonpartisan," not "moderate." And it doesn't hide its buzzwords -- e.g., "limited government," "free enterprise."
Public interest? Well, maybe the public interest is in the eye of the beholder. But just to be clear, this is not a food stamp clinic.
Law firm? Not, perhaps, in the sense you would ordinarily assign to the phrase. Here is how ALF describes its leadership. There is a board of directors, along with some corporate officers and an advisory council. These include some fair number of attorneys, but most of those attorneys seem to have very gainful employment elsewhere. Does ALF employ lawyers below the officer-and-director level? If so, their presence is unadvertised at the site. And they don't seem to participate extensively in the American Lawyer's summer associate surveys.
Advocating sound science? I gave a hurried look to the collection of briefs that ALF has posted, and I didn't see any brief advocating the admissibility of testimony from a practitioner of sound science. In fact, I didn't see any briefs advocating the admissibility of testimony from any scientist at all. But maybe I missed something. I'll be taking a closer look.
It is going to be an uphill battle. The first sentence appearing on ALF's home page reads:
"ATLANTIC LEGAL FOUNDATION is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public interest law firm whose mission is to advance the rule of law by advocating limited, effective government, free enterprise, individual liberty and sound science."
Nonprofit? ALF does appear to be organized as a 501(c)(3) corporation, and says it operates on funds donated by "private foundations, corporations and individuals."
Nonpartisan? One detects no formal affiliation with the Republican, Democratic, or Green parties. But a certain ideological tilt is apparent from the positions taken in ALF's various published briefs. In fairness, ALF says "nonpartisan," not "moderate." And it doesn't hide its buzzwords -- e.g., "limited government," "free enterprise."
Public interest? Well, maybe the public interest is in the eye of the beholder. But just to be clear, this is not a food stamp clinic.
Law firm? Not, perhaps, in the sense you would ordinarily assign to the phrase. Here is how ALF describes its leadership. There is a board of directors, along with some corporate officers and an advisory council. These include some fair number of attorneys, but most of those attorneys seem to have very gainful employment elsewhere. Does ALF employ lawyers below the officer-and-director level? If so, their presence is unadvertised at the site. And they don't seem to participate extensively in the American Lawyer's summer associate surveys.
Advocating sound science? I gave a hurried look to the collection of briefs that ALF has posted, and I didn't see any brief advocating the admissibility of testimony from a practitioner of sound science. In fact, I didn't see any briefs advocating the admissibility of testimony from any scientist at all. But maybe I missed something. I'll be taking a closer look.
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