Tag: speeches

Break Out of Those February Blahs!

By
Ilya Shapiro

…by attending one of my public events this month.  Here’s what I currently have scheduled (those sponsored by Federalist Society marked with an asterisk):

  • Feb.7 at 4pm – Comparative Constitutionalism, Rule of Law, and Lessons from Iraq – NYU Law School*
  • Feb.8 at 1pm – Panel on Judicial Activism (American Constitution Society conference on “Federal Courts, Inc.?”) – NYU Law School 
  • Feb.9 at 1pm – Debate on the Constitutionality of Obamacare – Brooklyn Law School*
  • Feb.10 at 10:45am – Debate on the Constitutionality of Obamacare – AMA Advocacy Conference at the Grand Hyatt, Washington, DC
  • Feb.15 at noon – Is Dodd-Frank Constitutional? – Cato Policy Forum 
  • Feb.16 at 12:15pm – Debate on the Constitutionality of Obamacare – University of Akron Law School*
  • Feb.16 or 17 - TBD – possible event(s) at Case Western and/or Cleveland State Law Schools*
  • Feb.20 at 10:45 – “Are There Any Limits on Federal Power?” – Students for Liberty International Conference, George Washington University Marvin Center, Washington, DC
  • Feb.22 at noon – Debate on Constitutionality of Obamacare – University of Arkansas Law School*
  • Feb.23 at 12:20 – TBD – Southern Methodist University, Dallas*

As always, if you attend any of these events, please come up and introduce yourself.  You can also follow my travels and travelogues on Twitter at @ishapiro.

Topics: 
General, Government and Politics, Law and Civil Liberties

Slouching Towards a New Supreme Court Term

By
Ilya Shapiro

We’re now three weeks away from the new Supreme Court term – I know you’re as excited as I am – and after a summer that included big opinions from The Nine, more confirmation hearings, and front-page district court decisions (on ObamaCare, immigration, and gay marriage), we roll into a fall full of even more legal intrigue.  Indeed, the first Monday of October that marks the first high court arguments of the new season is pretty much the first day of school for us Court-watchers.  And what better way to go back to school than to attend Cato’s ninth annual Constitution Day symposium this coming Thursday?

But don’t think that Constitution Day marks my re-emergence into the public sphere after a long six weeks slaving away at the Cato Supreme Court Review.  No, that moment, when I opened my office door, shook off the cobwebs, and went forward into our glorious future came last week, with panels on ObamaCare and immigration reform at the University of Virginia and Liberty University, respectively.  Those two law schools did a wonderful job in organizing and publicizing their events.  And here’s the rest of my schedule through the end of October, many of which continue my ObamaCare debate challenge (events sponsored by the Federalist Society are asterisked):

  • Sept. 13 at 1pm at Boston University Law School - Preview of the New Supreme Court Term*
  • Sept. 14 at noon at Harvard Law School - Debate on the Constitutionality of Obamacare against Prof. Mark Tushnet*
  • Sept. 17 at noon at Rayburn House Office Building B-340 - Capitol Hill Briefing on the Supreme Court and Economic Liberty
  • Sept. 20 at 5pm at Loyola University Law School (Chicago) - Panel on the Constitutionality of Obamacare*
  • Sept. 21 at noon at Northwestern University Law School (Chicago) - Preview of the New Supreme Court Term*
  • Sept. 22 at noon at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Debate on the Constitutionality of ObamaCare*
  • Sept. 25 - George Mason law professor and Cato adjunct scholar Ilya Somin’s wedding - Please do congratulate him!
  • Sept. 28 at 12:30 - University of Kansas Law School - Debate on the Constitutionality of ObamaCare*
  • Sept. 29 at lunch - Kansas City Federalist Society Lawyers Chapter - ObamaCare and Missouri’s Prop C*
  • Sept. 30 at 8:30 - Missouri Bar Association Annual Meeting - Panel on the Supreme Court
  • Sept. 30 at 1pm - University of Missouri Law School - The Constitutionality of Obamacare*
  • Oct. 4 at 10am - U.S. Supreme Court - First Monday!
  • Oct. 5 at 5pm - Widener University Law School (Delaware) - The Constitutionality of Obamacare*
  • Oct. 9 at 7pm - Washington Capitals home opener against the New Jersey Devils (I’m a season-ticket holder)
  • Oct. 12 at noon - Lewis & Clark University Law School (Portland, OR) - TBD*
  • Oct. 12 in the evening - Portland Federalist Society Lawyers Chapter - TBD*
  • Oct. 13 at noon - Willamette University Law School - TBD*
  • Oct. 16 at 6pm - University of Toronto Schools Centennial Gala (Go Blues!)
  • Oct. 19 at noon - University of Southern California Law School (L.A.) - Immigration*
  • Oct. 20 at noon - Chapman University Law School - Immigration*
  • Oct. 21 at noon - Orange County Federalist Society Lawyers Chapter - TBD*
  • Oct. 22 all day - Chapman University Law School Nexus Journal of Law & Policy Symposium - “Citizens Divided on Citizens United: Campaign Finance Reform and the First Amendment”
  • Oct. 26 at lunch - Stanford University Law School - TBD*
  • Oct. 27 at noon - University of the Pacific Law School (Stockton, CA) - Debate on the Constitutionality of Obamacare*
  • Oct. 28 at 12:45 - University of California at Berkeley Law School - Debate on Judicial Activism*

If you come out to any of these events, please do come up and introduce yourself.

Topics: 
Health Care, Law and Civil Liberties, Trade and Immigration

“Freedom in Crisis” on YouTube

By
David Boaz

My “Freedom in Crisis” speech, which has gotten some compliments as I’ve delivered it in various venues, is now available on the web, complete with accompanying Powerpoint illustrations.

Find it also on the Cato site here. And a partial transcript (pdf) was printed in Cato’s Letter. (Get a free subscription to Cato’s Letter here.) And to hear speeches like this live, watch for details on the next Cato University, July 25-30, 2010, in San Diego.

Topics: 
Cato Publications, Political Philosophy

More Supreme Court Review on the Road

By
Ilya Shapiro

As an update to an earlier post about my speaking schedule this fall, here are my remaining public events through Thanksgiving.  All these events, other than the one on Nov. 3, are sponsored by the Federalist Society (and in some cases co-sponsored by other organizations) and all are open to the public.  As always, if you decide to attend one of the presentations after learning of it from this blog post, please feel free to ishapiro [at] cato [dot] org (drop me a line) beforehand, and do introduce yourself after the event.

Event info after the jump.

Oct. 26 at 12:00pm -  Florida International University Law School (Miami) - Use of Foreign Law in Constitutional Interpretation

Oct. 27 at 12:30pm - University of Miami Law School - Use of Foreign Law in Constitutional Intepretation

Oct. 28 at 12:30pm - University of Dayton Law School - Hillary Clinton and the Emoluments Clause

Oct. 29 at 12:00pm - Northern Kentucky University Chase College of Law - October Term 2009 Overview

Nov. 3 at 12:00pm - Environmental Law Institute (Washington) - Panel on Stop the Beach Renourishment and Judicial Takings

Nov. 4 at 12:00pm - Yeshiva University Cardozo Law School (NYC) - Immigration and the Constitution

Nov. 4 at 3:00pm - Seton Hall University Law School - Debate on the The Chrysler Bankruptcy

Nov. 5 at 12:00pm - Columbia University Law School - Debate on the Use of Foreign Law in Constitutional Interpretation

Nov. 16 at 12:00pm - St. Louis University Law School - Use of Foreign Law in Constitutional Interpretation

Nov. 17 at 12: 00pm - Washington University (St. Louis) Law School - The Looming Danger of Transnational Progressivism

Topics: 
General, Law and Civil Liberties

Cato Supreme Court Review on the Road

By
Ilya Shapiro

With last week’s Constitution Day conference behind us (watch it here) – and the release of the 2008-2009 Cato Supreme Court Review – I can finally escape the office where I’ve been holed up all summer.  Yes, it’s time to go on the road and talk about all these wonderful legal issues we’ve learned about over the past year, as well as previewing the new Supreme Court term.

To that end, below the jump is my fall speaking schedule so far.  All these events are sponsored by the Federalist Society (and in some cases co-sponsored by other organizations) and all are open to the public.

If you decide to attend one of the presentations after learning of it from this blog post, please feel free to drop me a line beforehand, and do introduce yourself after the event.

Sept. 24 at 11:50am - DePaul Law School, Chicago - Debate on the Second Amendment post-Heller

Sept. 24 at 4:30pm - Chicago-Kent School of Law - Panel on Rule of Law in Iraq

Sept. 29 at 5:00pm - University of Cincinnati Law School - Rule of Law and Economic Development

Sept. 30 at 12:00pm - Capital University Law School (Columbus, OH) - Review of October Term 2008/Preview of October Term 2009

Sept. 30 at 3:30pm -  Ohio Northern School of Law (Ada, OH) - Debate on Ricci and Affirmative Action in Employment

Oct. 1 at 12:00pm - University of Toledo Law School - Debate on Ricci and Affrimative Action in Employment

Oct. 1 at 5:00pm - Thomas M. Cooley Law School (Auburn Hills, MI) - Immigration and the Constitution

Oct. 5 at 12:00pm - University of Pennsylvania Law School - Debate on the Use of Foreign Law in Constitutional Interpretation

Oct.6 at 5:30pm - Blank Rome LLP in Philadelphia (Federalist Society Lawyers Chapter; small admission fee) - Panel on Rule of Law in Iraq

Oct. 8 at 1:00pm - Penn State-Dickinson Law School (University Park) - October Term 2009 Preview

Oct. 13 at 5:15pm - George Mason University Law School (Arlington, VA) - October Term 2009 Preview

Oct. 26 at 12:00pm - Florida International University Law School (Miami) - Topic TBA

Oct. 27 at 12:30pm - University of Miami Law School - Topic TBA

Topics: 
General, Law and Civil Liberties

Update on the Sotomayor Hearings

By
Ilya Shapiro

After yesterday’s bloviating—much reduced by Joe Biden’s departure from the committee—today we’ve gotten into some good stuff. Sotomayor is obviously well-prepared. She speaks in measured, dulcet tones, showing little emotion.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Leahy gave her the opportunity to explain herself on Ricci and on the “wise Latina” comment—which she has repeated in public speeches at least six times going back 15 years—and then built up the nominee’s background as a prosecutor and trial judge. Ranking Member Sessions and Senator Hatch (himself a former chairman of the committee) pounded Sotomayor on Ricci, asking her how she reconciles a race-based decision with clear Supreme Court precedent—and how her panel decided the case in two paragraphs despite the weighty statutory and constitutional questions.

Sessions in particular pointed out the inconsistency between her statement yesterday that she was guided by “fidelity to the law” and her history of calling the appellate courts as being the place where “policy is made” and profession of inability to find an objective approach of the law divorced from a judge’s ethnicity or gender. Sotomayor’s responses were not convincing; rather than agreeing with Justice O’Connor’s statement that a wise old man and a wise old woman would come out the same way on the law, the “wise Latina” comment plainly means the exact opposite.

And so the back-and-forth continues. One refreshing thing I will note is that only twice has the nominee said she can’t answer a question or elaborate on a response: on abortion, saying Griswold, Roe, and Casey are settled law; and on guns, declining to discuss whether the constitutional right to bear arms can be used to strike down state (as opposed to federal) laws. The former is a clear—but not unexpected—cop-out because, unlike a lower court judge, the Supreme Court justice revisits the nature and scope of rights all the time. The latter is actually the correct response in light of the three cert petitions pending before the Court in the latest round of Second Amendment litigation. Still, her discussion of the Second Amendment left much to be desired given her ruling in Maloney; as Jillian Bandes pointed out recently, you can’t discuss incorporation without a solid understanding of Presser.

CP Townhall

Topics: 
Law and Civil Liberties

The Sotomayor Hearings

By
Ilya Shapiro

judgesotomayorNothing has changed in the six short weeks since Sonia Sotomayor was nominated to the Supreme Court: she remains a symbol of the racial politics she embraces. While we celebrate her story and professional achievements, we must realize that she – an average federal judge with a passel of unimpressive decisions – would not even be part of the conversation if she weren’t a Hispanic woman.

As Americans increasingly call for the abolition of affirmative action, Sotomayor supports racial preferences. As poll after poll shows that Americans demand that judges apply the law as written, the “wise Latina” denies that this is ever an objective exercise and urges judges to view cases through ethnic and gender lenses.

At next week’s hearings, Sotomayor will have to answer substantively for these and other controversial views – and for outrageous rulings on employment discrimination, property rights, and the Second Amendment. To earn confirmation, she must satisfy the American people that, despite her speeches and writings, she plans to be a judge, not a post-modern ethnic activist. After all, a jurisprudence of empathy is the antithesis of the rule of law.

Topics: 
Law and Civil Liberties

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