1,100-plus Law Profs Members of the Legal Academy Sign Letter Supporting Sotomayor Confirmation

The letter opens with the sentence "We the undersigned professors of law write in support of the confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor..." but

1. Commenting on the letter on The Volokh Conspiracy, Jonathan Adler asks, "what percentage of the 1,100-plus signatories to the letter are sufficiently familiar with her record to have reached an informed, expert judgment?" Good question.

2. How many of the signtories are actually law profs? From a comment to Adler's post:

I was curious to see who signed on to this letter from my alma mater (Univ. of Texas at Austin). Of the 23 UT Law signatories, approximately a quarter are made up of adjunct professors (2), clinical professors (3), and the interim head of the school's law library (1). I'm not really intent upon denigrating the worth of these folks; but, given that the value of the letter in question largely rests on the credentials and positions of the signatories, one cannot help but note their actual credentials and positions. Of the remaining UT Law signatories, what stands out most is how many faculty (many of whom are quite liberal and no doubt sympathetic to Sotomayor's nomination) are missing from the letter. One wonders if UT Law is representative of other schools in this regard. If so, even on its own terms, the letter is a bit underwhelming.

Text of the letter and list of signatories here and head count by law school and state here. [JH]