At a May 2015 event, The National Constitution Center hosted a debate in Boston on the controversial Citizens United decision featuring election and constitutional law experts Anthony Johnstone and John McGinnis.
Introduction:
Alistair Reader, Co-President, ACS Boston Lawyer Chapter
Featuring:
Jeffrey Rosen, President & CEO, National Constitution Center
Lee Otis, Senior Vice President and Faculty Division Director, Federalist Society
Anthony Johnstone, Associate Professor, University of Montana School of Law
John McGinnis, George C. Dix Professor in Constitutional Law, Northwestern University School of Law
On Friday, April 24, ACS hosted a briefing on the marriage equality cases. In the consolidated cases, the Court is asked to decide whether the Fourteenth Amendment requires a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex and whether it requires a state to recognize a same-sex marriage that was lawfully performed out-of-state. Panelists detailed the history of the marriage debate, the range of ways in which the Court could decide the case, and the implications of the decision on the future of LGBT rights.
The panel discussion featured:
Introduction
Caroline Fredrickson, President, American Constitution Society for Law & Policy
Panelists
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Amy Howe, Editor/Reporter, SCOTUSblog, moderator
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Steve Sanders, Associate Professor of Law at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law
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Paul Smith, Partner, Jenner & Block; Member, ACS Board of Directors
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Sarah Warbelow, Legal Director, Human Rights Campaign
On Thursday, April 23, ACS hosted a discussion about the effects that money in state judicial elections has on the ability of criminal defendants to receive fair and impartial treatment in the criminal justice system.
A recent ACS report, Skewed Justice, by Joanna Shepherd and Michael Kang of Emory Law School, found that the current explosion in spending on television attack ads in state supreme court elections has made courts less likely to rule in favor of defendants in criminal appeals. This influx of money to judicial elections – due in large part to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United – means that judges are under increasing pressure to act like politicians by avoiding damaging attack ads and burnishing their “tough on crime” bona fides at the expense of real people facing criminal prosecution.
Read Skewed Justice: Citizens United, Television Advertising and State Supreme Court Justices’ Decisions in Criminal Cases by Joanna Shepherd and Michael Kang.
Welcome
Caroline Fredrickson, President, American Constitution Society for Law & Policy
Panelists
- Nkechi Taifa, Senior Policy Analyst, Open Society Foundations, moderator
- Honorable James C. Nelson, Justice of the Montana Supreme Court (retired)
- Tanya Clay House, Director of Public Policy, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law
- Norman Reimer, Executive Director, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
- Joanna Shepherd, Professor of Law, Emory Law School, co-author of Skewed Justice
On Wednesday, March 25th, the National Constitution Center, the American Constitution Society, and the Federalist Society convened the first in a series of constitutional debates to be held across America. In the inaugural debate, Frederick Gedicks of Brigham Young University and Kevin Walsh of the University of Richmond argued for and against the motion: "Hobby Lobby was wrongly decided.” Jeffrey Rosen, President and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderated.
On March 19, 2015 ACS hosted the Symposium on Voting Rights in the States. Experts discussed the new state of voting rights in a day long symposium in Atlanta, Georgia. The second panel of the day considered how voting rights advocates could use legislative and administrative advocacy to protect voting rights.
The panel featured:
Eileen O'Connor, Senior Counsel, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Kathay Feng, Executive Director, California Common Cause; National Redistricting Director, Common Cause
Bret Healy, Consultant, National Congress of American Indians
Marissa Liebling, Legislative Counsel, Just Vote Illinois
Tram Nguyen, Co-Executive Director, Virginia New Majority
