A group of 21 conservative legal scholars issued an open letter defending Harvard Law School's Appointments committee yesterday.

The letter was a response to a call by 15 faculty members for the creation of a new appointments committee devoted to finding minority and women candidates. The professors said in the letter released Monday that the Law School practiced "systematic exclusion."

The 21 professors disagreed with the earlier letter's claim that the recent parody of murdered feminist scholar Mary Joe Frug's piece in the spoof edition of the Law Review was a symptom of a larger problem of sexism at the Law School. The piece con- tained what critics claimed to be misogynisticand insensitive comments.

The letter also questioned the suggestion thatthe Appointments Committee be disbanded. "To blamethe Appointments Committee for one'sdisappointment respecting faculty action inspecific appointment matters is unfair andunproductive," the letter said.

Yesterday's letter was the latest in a seriesof disagreements between faculty members overimplications of the recent Law Reviewspoof. The recent campus unrest has brought to thesurface longstanding debates between CriticalLegal Studies scholars and more conservativeprofessors.

The document delivered yesterday was signed byCarter Professor of Jurisprudence Charles Friedand Professor of Law Reinier Kraakman, twoprofessors who pressed administrative boardcharges against students for holding sit-ins intheir offices. Professor Mary Ann Glendon, whosits on the appointments committee, was the onewoman to sign the letter