HLS American Constitution Society » Speaker Events

The CIA and the Rule of Law. Tues, Apr 10, 12-1pm in Langdell North. Free food!

Harvard Law School — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:08:27 +0000

Stephen W. Preston, General Counsel of the CIA and an HLS alumnus, will seek to promote a better understanding of the Agency and its relation to the law. His talk will focus on the proposition that, just as ours is a nation of laws, the CIA is an institution of laws, and the rule of law is integral to Agency operations.

Please no photographs at this event.

Fighting for Fair Pay: Dinner Conversation with Lilly Ledbetter, Kevin Russell, and Lanier Isom. Tues, Apr 10, 5-6:30pm in Austin North. Free dinner!

Harvard Law School — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:07:38 +0000

Please join us for a dinner discussion featuring Lilly Ledbetter, the inspiration for the 2009 Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. This discussion will chronicle Ms. Ledbetter’s experience at Goodyear as well as exploring the subsequent litigation and the legislative battle in response to the Supreme Court’s dismissal of the case. Kevin Russell, the advocate who argued Ms. Ledbetter’s case before the Supreme Court, will also be speaking. Ms. Ledbetter and her co-author Lanier Isom will remain after the event to sign sign copies of their new book on Ms. Ledbetter’s experience, Grace & Grit, which will be for sale.

Sponsored by Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy Fund, ACLU, WLA, ACS, Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs, JLG, and JOL.

The Constitutionality of Obama’s Recess Appointments. Wed, Apr 11, 12-1pm in WCC 1023. Free lunch!

Harvard Law School — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:07:11 +0000

Professor Peter Shane and David Rivkin will engage the audience in a discussion about the constitutionality of President Obama’s recent recess appointments. Co-sponsored with the Harvard Federalist Society.

Professor Richard Lazarus: “Arguing Before and Within the Supreme Court: The Significance for Public Interest Advocacy of Environmentalists’ 0-for-17 Record in NEPA Cases.” Mon, Apr 9, 5pm, in Austin North. Presented by the Environmental Law Society.

Harvard Law School — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:06:42 +0000

Clover dinner! Reception to Follow.

Please join us for the final event in the Environmental Law in the Supreme Court Discussion Series: Lessons for Progressive Cause Advocates. HLS’s own Professor Richard Lazarus will discuss what environmental lawyers’ beleaguered efforts to challenge federal actions via the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) can teach other social change advocates. Following the talk, students and faculty are invited to discuss the intersections between environmental litigation and progressive social change more generally at a beer and wine reception!

“Reforming the Criminal Justice System,” with Vanita Gupta. Tues, Apr 10, 12-1pm in WCC 2012. Presented by SALSA and cosponsored by ACS.

Harvard Law School — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:05:18 +0000

Widely recognized as one of America’s leading civil rights attorneys, Vanita Gupta is currently the Deputy Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Director of the organization’s Center for Justice. Prior to joining the ACLU, she was an attorney at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, where she successfully led the effort to overturn wrongful drug convictions of 38 defendants in Tulia, Texas. More recently, Gupta secured a landmark settlement on behalf of immigrant children detained at a medium security prison in Texas. She will speak about criminal justice in the United States, the ACLU’s national campaign to end mass incarceration, the intersection between criminal justice and immigration detention, and her experiences as a South Asian American civil rights attorney.

Indian food will be served.

Noam Chomsky, “‘Is America Over?’ Prospects, Paranoia, and the Roots of Current Malaise.” Fri, March 23, 12-1pm, Austin East.

Harvard Law School — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 15:27:58 +0000

The title, borrowed from the front cover of the December issue of Foreign Affairs, reflects a pervasive theme in public and professional discussion: America’s decline. A standard corollary is “the rising power of China,” considered by a large plurality of academics and policymakers to be the most alarming prospect facing the country. The decline is real. It traces back to the peak of US power after World War II, and China has been a central concern throughout, often evoking considerable paranoia, now as well.

A more sober assessment suggests that US global dominance is likely to be long-lasting, though it can be undermined, not least by self-inflicted wounds, as has been happening for a generation, along with the erosion of domestic civil liberties and even the foundations of Anglo-American law. Lunch will be provided.

Benjamin Sachs, “What Does Citizens United Mean for Unions?” Thurs, March 22, 12-1pm, WCC 1023.

Harvard Law School — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 15:27:16 +0000

In Citizens United, the Supreme Court notoriously held that Congress could not restrict corporate election spending–nor could it restrict unions’ spending. While the media has extensively covered the effect of this decision on corporations’ roles in elections, less has been said about what the decision means for unions. Prof. Benjamin Sachs will talk about how the differing legal frameworks in which unions and corporations exist give corporations an advantage over unions in electioneering, and how better policy would put them on more equal footing.

Career Pathways in International Human Rights with Anne T.Gallagher

Harvard Law School — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 02:40:05 +0000

Career Pathways in International Human Rights with Anne T.Gallagher. Fri, Feb 17, 12-1:30pm, WC 2009. Presented by the WLA. Non-pizza lunch provided.

Dr Anne Gallagher is an international legal practitioner and scholar, working in the areas of human rights and criminal justice. She served as a UN official from 1992 until 2003 – for the last four years as Adviser to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Since 2003 she has led a major regional initiative in South East Asia that works to strengthen criminal justice responses to trafficking between ASEAN Member States. Dr Gallagheris recognized as the leading global authority on the law and policy of human trafficking. Her book “The International Law of Human Trafficking” received the American Society of International Law Certificate of Merit, Honorable Mention, in 2011.

She will be sharing her extensive career experience, and giving insights into career pathways in human rights, within academia, international organizations and national governments. The session will be moderated by Professor Janet Halley.

Unsex Mothering: Toward a New Culture of Parenting

Harvard Law School — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 02:39:22 +0000

A Conference on Darren Rosenblum’s Unsex Mothering: Toward a New Culture of Parenting. Mon, Feb 13, 5-7pm in Austin Hall North. Presented by Harvard Journal of Law & Gender.

In the category of “mothering,” legal sex neutrality crashes into social default regimes to construct women as “mothers,” who serve as primary parents, and men as “fathers.” Institutions burden women with parenting responsibilities reflexively and without compensation, while men are presumed incapable or uninterested in performing these caretaking duties.

In Unsex Mothering, published in the Winter 2012 volume of the Harvard Journal of Law & Gender, Darren Rosenblum advances a theory of unsexing to characterize the peeling away of rights and statuses from biological sex. Professor Rosenblum’s article describes how international law both affirms this sexed vision of parenting and suggests the path toward an unsexed future, with particular focus on parenting leave policies in Sweden.

In conjunction with an online colloquium on http://harvardjlg.com, which will feature written responses by twenty scholars in the field, this conference will feature Darren Rosenblum discussing his piece, with responses from Professor Duncan Kennedy (HLS), Professor Mary Anne Case (U. Chicago), Professor Elizabeth Emens (Columbia), Professor Suzanne Kim (Rutgers), and Katherine Kraschel (HLS ’12).

Join Harvard Journal of Law & Gender for this exciting and innovative approach to legal scholarship, combining traditional print with online discussion by scholars across the country and this dynamic in-person discussion. Reception to follow.

Brought to you by Harvard Journal of Law & Gender. Please visit http://harvardjlg.com for more information, and to read responses by:

Libby Adler, Michael Boucai, Glenn Cohen, Ariela Gross, Bennett Capers, Michelle Goodwin, Joanna Grossman, Berta Hernandez-Truyol, Beth Jones, Suzanne Kim, Fernanda Nicola, Naomi Mezey, Theo Mhyre, Kimberly Mutcherson, Camille Rich, Susie Schmeiser, Elizabeth Schneider, Katherine Silbaugh, Kellye Testy, Mary Whisner

Co-sponsored by ACS, LAMBDA, Womens Law Association, Harvard Law Students for Reproductive Justice, and the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, with generous funding from the Milbank Fund and the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy.

Download Our “Overturning Citizens United” Event

Harvard Law School — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:24:10 +0000

Did you miss our recent event “Overturning Citizens United: Amendment or Convention?”, which featured Professor Lawrence Lessig and author Jeff Clements? If so, you can download a video of the event by clicking HERE.

Enjoy!