ABSTRACT
The Tyranny of the Majority, Lani Guinier's book of essays is out, and the first line of the introduction sounds a familiar note of complaint: that she was unfairly done in by her critics. In it, Yale Law Professor Stephen Carter compares her with George Washington's first Supreme Court nominee, who was heavily attacked as a crazy person. Guinier took some unfair shots for her hair and appearance, and the "Quota Queen" headline was an ugly epithet. A story line has emerged about her downfall: that she was ushered to defeat by a shallow and incompetent press corps that either didn't read her work, or couldn't understand it. The press has widely accepted this anti-press indictment and Guinier herself has pushed it hard. Certainly the press had to struggle to put her ideas in plain English. Her style is unusually difficult, even for an academic.
