Please join the ACS Madison and Milwaukee Lawyer Chapters, and the ACS UW Madison Law School Student Chapter for a hybrid discussion on qualified immunity with Jeff Scott Olsen. Jeff Scott Olson has litigated civil rights damages cases for over forty years. He is the author of Qualified Immunity: A Dubious Doctrine and a 21st Century Wisconsin Solution, the cover story in the November, 2023, edition of the Wisconsin Lawyer. Jeff will talk about how to frame cases so that qualified immunity does not apply, by, for example, aiming for municipal rather than individual liability, and how to frame arguments so that defense qualified immunity motions are denied.

Jeff Scott Olson graduated with honors in 1972, from the University of Wisconsin and obtained his law degree there in 1976. In over forty years of private practice, he has consistently represented individuals and small businesses against government agencies, corporations and insurance companies. He has won a number of landmark cases, including Watkins v. LIRC, 117 Wis. 2d 753, 345 N.W. 2d 482 (1984), which established the right of an employment discrimination victim to recover a separate award of attorneys' fees under the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act, and Gilbert v. State of Wisconsin Medical Examining Board, 119 Wis. 2d 168, 349 N.W. 2d 68 (1984), which established due process safeguards applicable to professional license revocation cases.

He has won two jury verdicts for damages in the millions of dollars, one for a young man wrongfully convicted of sexual assault and later exonerated by DNA evidence and one for the family of a police shooting victim. A nationally recognized expert on civil rights law, he has been asked on over seventy occasions to present educational programs for the training of other lawyers, and has authored nearly two dozen articles on civil rights topics in national publications. He was the winner of the American Civil Liberties Union's "Volunteer Attorney of the Year" award in 1986 and the Dane County Fair Housing Council's "Fair Housing Advocate Award" in 1988. He was first voted "Best Civil Rights Lawyer in Madison" in a poll of the Dane County Bar published in Madison Magazine's January, 1994, edition, and has been similarly recognized several times since then. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America and Superlawyers, and is a past chair of the State Bar of Wisconsin Individual Rights Section.

The power of the U.S. President to pardon is stated in the U.S. Constitution in one sentence, to "grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment." Nearly every U. S. President in history has exercised the power of the pardon, for offenses ranging from treason to simple drug possession, but to date the only U. S. president to receive a pardon was former President Richard M. Nixon.  

Today’s political circumstances raise the potential of a second pardon of a former (and perhaps future) President, Donald Trump. Currently on trial on state criminal charges in New York, the former President faces three more potential criminal trials either before or after the upcoming November 5, 2024, Presidential election. A second potential state court trial remains pending in Georgia, and two criminal cases remain pending on federal charges. Potential convictions in one or more of those cases raise numerous questions, including an intriguing one: should Trump be re-elected in November, does the Constitution give the President the power to pardon himself? And even if he has the power to pardon himself, if the circumstances should arise, should he do so?

Panelists will explore arguments in a moderated debate, followed by discussion on the topic. 

This program is part of an ongoing series, Civil Disagreements Debate Series, which is a collection of moderated debates and discussions on current, critical, and often, contentious, civic questions sponsored by the American Bar Association's Division for Public Education, the American Constitution Society (Chicago and Austin, TX chapters), the Federalist Society (Chicago chapter), and Reform for Illinois. 

Speakers:

Brian C. Kalt--Arguing AGAINST Presidential Self Pardons, Michigan State University Law School

Jonathan Turley--Arguing IN FAVOR OF Presidential Self Pardons, George Washington University Law School

Register here.

Join us for a conversation with Roopali Desai, a judge on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Desai previously worked as a litigator on progressive causes, including election law, in Arizona. Judge Desai will discuss and answer questions about her path in the legal profession and to the Ninth Circuit. This is an exciting opportunity to hear from and connect with a leader at the height of our field. Lunch will be served. 1-2 PM.

 USC Gould School of Law Dean and ACS Board of Directors Member Franita Tolson will be the featured speaker at the Kiplinger Lecture on Saturday, May 18, 3:30-4:30 p.m. ET at the Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Bethesda, Maryland.

Tolson will deliver the lecture "A Promise Unfulfilled: The Future of the Right to Vote," followed by a moderated discussion with ACS President Russ Feingold. Tolson will explore protections in the Voting Rights Acts of 1965 and the 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution. She will also comment on recent federal and state laws and judicial decisions that affect voting rights.

The event is open to the public. Those who cannot attend in person can access the lecture via livestream.

Chief Justice Collins J. Seitz, Jr. has publicly declared his commitment to make the Bench and Bar reflect the diversity of the community that it serves. In 2022, the DE Bench and Bar issued its Strategic Plan examining diversity within the Delaware legal community.

Come and hear a candid conversation with the Chief Justice about the implementation of the recommendations of the Strategic Plan to improve the diversity of the Delaware Bar.

Additionally, learn about school-based initiatives to shape the next generation of lawyers and how you can help.

Panelists:

The Honorable Collins J. Seitz,

Chief Justice, Delaware Supreme Court

Elizabeth S. Fenton, Esquire

Chair, DSBA Diversity Committee

Partner, Ballard Spahr LLP

Gayle P. Lafferty,

Delaware State Court Administrator

Nicole M. Mozee, Esquire

Wilmington University School of Law

Betsy Renzo, Esquire

Executive Director, Delaware Law Related Education Center

Elizabeth S. Fenton, Esq.

Chair, DSBA Diversity Committee

Partner, Ballard Spahr LLP

This event is eligible for 1.5 Enhanced Ethics CLE Credits.

Live Locations: 

Delaware State Bar Association

704 N. King Street, Suite 110

Wilmington, DE 19801

Morris James

 850 New Burton Rd Suite 101

Dover, DE 19904

Tunnell & Raysor

30 E Pine St.

Georgetown, ​​​DE 19947

To attend, please register here.