ACS President Caroline Fredrickson welcomed convention attendees by speaking about the weekend's schedule and new ACS projects.
Presentation of the 2017 ACS Progressive Champion Award to Stephen Bright by Jarrett Adams
Innocence Project Attorney Jarrett Adams Introduces the 2017 ACS Progressive Champion Award winner, Stephen Bright. Bright has spent his career fighting against the use of the death penalty in the United States.
Address by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, Introduced by Jeff Clements
Jeff Clements Introduces the keynote speaker for the first night of the 2017 ACS National Convention, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. Attorney General Healey spoke of the role states have to play in preserving progressive values during unfriendly presidential administrations.
ACS Board Chair Cliff Sloan Concluding Remarks
ACS Board Chair Cliff Sloan offers closing remarks on the first day of the 2017 ACS National Convention.
Presentation of the 2017 ACS David Carliner Public Interest Award to Becca Heller by Jacob Remes
Grandson of the late David Carliner, Jacob Remes, introduced the 2017 Davide Carliner Public Interest Award winner, Becca Heller. Heller, an attorney for the International Refugee Assistance Project, led the charge of attorneys who flooded airports in response to President Trump's Muslim Ban.
Trans Rights in the Trump Era
The Supreme Court vacated and remanded the case of Gavin Grimm, a transgender student in Virginia who sought to use the same bathrooms as other male students use at his school. The remand, which came just three weeks before the case was scheduled to be argued, followed the Trump administration’s withdrawal of Department of Education guidelines defining discrimination based on gender identity as “sex discrimination” under Title IX and requiring schools to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity. Mark Joseph Stern, Writer, Slate, Kylar Broadus, senior counsel, Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, Katie Eyer, associate professor of law, Rutgers Law School, David McDonald, legal associate, Cato Institute, and John Paul Schnapper-Casters, special counsel for appellate and Supreme Court Advocacy, NAACP Legal Educational Fund had a discussion about these ongoing trans issues.
Featured Speakers:
Caroline Fredrickson, president, American Constitution Society, Introduction
Mark Joseph Stern, writer, Slate, Moderator
Kylar Broadus, senior counsel, Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund
Katie Eyer, associate professor of law, Rutgers Law School
David McDonald, legal associate, Cato Institute
John Paul Schnapper-Casters, special counsel for appellate and Supreme Court Advocacy, NAACP Legal Educational Fund