Law Job Star
The Peculiar Side of Human Nature - Andrew Shirvell’s One Man Army By Donna McGill Ask anyone the reasoning behind Michigan Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell’s campaign against a University of Michigan student body president and odds are, you’ll not get a definitive answer. This is because Andrew Shirvell has yet to provide one. He has not been able to sufficiently explain why he has chosen to stalk a perfect stranger or why he’s jeopardized his career to do so. Andrew Shirvell is our focus for this week’s Law Star Profile.
The controversy brewing in Michigan has gained national media attention, partly because of who is involved and partly because of the lack of reasoning behind the motives of Andrew Shirvell. The assistant attorney general, now on an administrative leave of absence, has this peculiar obsession towards Chris Armstrong, current president of the student body at the University of Michigan. While Shirvell insists it’s nothing personal, it’s become quite evident that it most certainly is personal. Shirvell insists his biggest complaint is Armstrong’s move to provide gender neutral housing on the university campus. Shirvell has also said Armstrong’s homosexuality goes against what he believes in. He has devoted an entire blog, Chris Armstrong Watch, to memorialize every move the 21 year old college student makes. But don’t waste your time pointing your browser to the blog; it’s an invitation only blog that you won’t get access to in the short term. While this controversy is disturbing, Armstrong has taken the high road and opted to not go public, but instead, he has hired legal representation to deal with his unlikely nemesis. So just who is Andrew Shirvell? It’s difficult to find any information on Shirvell or his life. He graduated from the University of Michigan, of course; it’s his justification for focusing such anger, hatred and misplaced self-righteous
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concern towards Armstrong. He’s not eloquent. This was proven in a useless interview with Anderson Cooper recently. Despite Cooper’s best interviewing tactics, there was not a single straight answer provided by Shirvell. Many are beginning to question what his credentials are that allowed the state’s attorney general to hire him in the first place. As for that attorney general, Mike Cox, he’s catching his own share of backlash from this brouhaha. He consistently defended Shirvell’s First Amendment rights and said that while he didn’t agree with what he was doing, his hands were tied since Shirvell appeared to shelve his efforts until after work hours each day. Still, many people wondered why he didn’t incorporate the clause that Shirvell clearly violated that read, in part, that no officer of the state would ‘’engage in behavior unbecoming to the office of Attorney General’’. That point is moot now since Shirvell took a voluntary leave of absence on October 1st. On Monday, October 11, 2010, both Shirvell and Armstrong will face off in court. Armstrong has filed a restraining order against Shirvell and a judge is expected to rule during the hearing. It’s expected evidence that includes Shirvell’s blog, complete with cruel accusations, lies and tasteless comparisons, as well as what many are saying are instances of stalking by Shirvell, will come into play as well. Hopefully, the world will finally understand what is in Shirvell’s mind that has allowed him to target this one student and wreak such havoc that includes the ruining of his own career.
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