Or, this should be titled: If you can’t buy a diploma, just make one up.
Please invest a little time and read this in its entirety.
In 1972 an attorney named John Brabner-Smith formed a new private law school in Washington DC. In the seven years the school was in existence it moved from the basement of a church to a row of townhouses and finally to an abandoned department store. He gave it a prestigious sounding name, the International School of Law (ISL). Unfortunately the school was never able to gain recognition by the American Bar Association (ABA) as an accredited law school before it closed. At the same time that ISL was looking for a buyer Virginia was looking to add a law school in the Northern part of the state. So, by an act of the legislature, George Mason University (GMU) announced it would start a law school. To jump-start that program the university bought the assets of ISL, hired a select number of ISL’s professors and allowed some ISL students to transfer to GMU. That was in 1979. In 1980 the George Mason University School of Law was created. By 1986 the school became fully accredited by the American Bar Association and today it is highly regarded.
In 1977 a young Virginia boy graduated from ISL, married a lady from West Virginia and moved to Lewisburg. He went to work for a local law firm and proudly listed his alma mater as the International School of Law. More than ten years later, in 1988, he ran for a seat in the WV House of Delegates and he needed a resume that reflected his vision of himself. So he contacted the publisher of the national directory of lawyers, Martindale-Hubbell and changed his alma mater in that listing. From 1980 through 1987 his listing correctly stated that he received his law degree from ISL. In the 1988 directory he changed his listing to claim that he graduated from George Mason University. Who is going to ever think to ask how one could have graduated from a law school that was not even in existence in 1977? For two decades nobody bothered to question that disconnect. As a matter of fact, based partly on published credentials citing the prestigious George Mason University as his law school, he was able to convince Governor Underwood to appoint him as a circuit court judge in 1997.
After hearing years of complaints about this judge an internet-savvy senior citizen, puzzled by the judge’s many peculiar rulings, started conducting some research. First there is a statement from the associate dean of records of GMU. GMU, by the conditions of its purchase agreement, is the official keeper of records for the now defunct ISL, as the records were considered part of the assets. However, under no circumstances can a graduate of ISL obtain a GMU diploma or claim they were a student or graduate of George Mason University, because they are not.
Everyone knows that if you lie to a judge you get into trouble and maybe into jail. But what do you do if you believe a judge is not truthful with you?
Judge Jim Rowe claims he graduated from a law school that did not even exist in 1977.. Furthermore the law school he attended was never accredited by the ABA. This is more than just padding your resume. How many ill-conceived decisions has he made that let child molesters walk or erroneously sent innocent people to prison?
Somebody who knows him should ask Jim Rowe: “May I please see your diploma?â€
