Harvard professor cites editing mistake
By Marcella Bombardieri and David Mehegan, Globe Staff
The Boston Globe
A recent book by Harvard Law School professor Charles J. Ogletree Jr. includes six paragraphs lifted almost directly from another author's work, in what Ogletree said was a mistake made as the draft of his book passed through the hands of two assistants.
After an investigation by Harvard, Ogletree published a letter of apology on the law school's website last week.
"I made a serious mistake during the editorial process of completing this book, and delegated too much responsibility to others during the final editing process," Ogletree wrote in the statement, which was approved by the school's administration. "I was negligent in not overseeing more carefully the final product that carries my name."
The book, "All Deliberate Speed: Reflections on the First Half-Century of Brown v. Board of Education," was published earlier this year. A long passage at the beginning of one chapter was taken, without attribution, from a book of essays edited by Yale Law School professor Jack M. Balkin. Balkin's book, "What Brown v. Board of Education Should Have Said," was published in 2001.
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