Cato’s one and only David Boaz, executive vice president and author of The Libertarian Mind, will explain “Why I’m Optimistic about Freedom and Progress.” Having been with Cato for nearly all its 40-year history, David has seen the ideas of classical liberalism infused into the mainstream discourse and will provide reasons to be optimistic about a more libertarian future.

The Supreme Court is now part of the same toxic cloud that has enveloped the nation’s public discourse. Given the battles we saw over Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, and the largely party-line votes on most circuit-court nominees, too many people now think of the justices in partisan terms. That’s unfortunate, but it’s not a surprise when contrasting interpretive theories now largely track identification with parties that are more ideologically sorted than ever. Is there anything we can do to fix this dynamic? What does it mean for the future of constitutional protection for individual liberty? Ilya Shapiro will discuss the “New Supreme Court and the Future of Judicial Nominations.”

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