History of the Rappaport Forum
The Harvard Law School Forum was born in 1946, when Jerome “Jerry” Rappaport approached HLS Dean James Landis with an idea: What if Harvard Law School sponsored a speaker series on issues that would shape the post-war world? Decades later, Rappaport felt that the media and political landscape had once again changed: “We’ve lost any sense of national dialogue, of discussion and debate as a means for deepening our understanding and pursuit of the truth.” That view motivated the launch of the Harvard Law School Rappaport Forum. Funded by the Phyllis & Jerome Lyle Rappaport Foundation, it is designed to promote and model civil discourse on complex and challenging issues facing our community, our nation, and our world.
Upcoming Rappaport Forum on March 12, 2025
Does the Law Provide for a Unitary Executive?
Susan Davies, Former Head of the Office of Legal Policy, U.S. Department of Justice, will moderate the discussion with Aditya Bamzai, Martha Lubin Karsh and Bruce A. Karsh Bicentennial Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law, and Peter Shane, Distinguished Scholar in Residence at New York University School of Law. The Harvard Law School Rappaport Forum is designed to promote and model full, vigorous, and civil discourse on critical and complicated issues facing our community, our nation, and our world.
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Censorship, Content Moderation, and the First Amendment
Who Cares About Tradition? Constitutionalism After Dobbs and Bruen
Stare Decisis and Roe v. Wade
Should Congress Enact H.R. 1?
Reform of the Supreme Court?
When is Speech Violence? And Other Questions About Campus Speech
