History of the Rappaport Forum
![A young man at a podium with micr](https://hls.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Rappaport-Harvard_Law_Forum_crop.jpg)
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.
Rule by One Judge: The Question of Universal Injunctions
![Three people speaking from a dais](https://hls.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/20240207_Rappaport-Forum-Universal-Injunctions_LGranger001.jpg)
![Guy-Uriel Charles.](https://hls.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/20240207_Rappaport-Forum-Universal-Injunctions_LGranger004-2400x1600-1.jpg)
![Mila Sohoni and Sam Bray.](https://hls.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/20240207_Rappaport-Forum-Universal-Injunctions_LGranger024-2400x1600-1.jpg)
![John F. Manning.](https://hls.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/20240207_Rappaport-Forum-Universal-Injunctions_LGranger029-2400x1600-1.jpg)
Does the 14th Amendment Bar Donald Trump from Running for President?
![Jeannie Suk Gersen, Michael Mukasey, Akhil Amar.](https://hls.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/20240125_Rappaport-Forum_LGranger007-2400x1600-1.jpg)
![Michael Mukasey.](https://hls.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/20240125_Rappaport-Forum_LGranger031-2400x1600-1.jpg)
![Akhil Amar.](https://hls.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/20240125_Rappaport-Forum_LGranger017-2400x1600-1.jpg)
![Stephen Breyer in audience.](https://hls.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/20240125_Rappaport-Forum_LGranger003-2400x1600-1.jpg)
Intellectual Property and the Dawn of Generative AI
![Harvard Law School Rappaport Forum.](https://hls.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/20231030_Rappaport-Forum-IP-and-the-Dawn-of-AI_LGranger011-2400.jpg)
![Ruth Okediji.](https://hls.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/20231030_Rappaport-Forum-IP-and-the-Dawn-of-AI_LGranger012-2400.jpg)
![Pamela Samuelson.](https://hls.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/20231030_Rappaport-Forum-IP-and-the-Dawn-of-AI_LGranger020-2400.jpg)
![Justin Hughes.](https://hls.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/20231030_Rappaport-Forum-IP-and-the-Dawn-of-AI_LGranger032-2400.jpg)
Censorship, Content Moderation, and the First Amendment
![Three people sitting on a panel in front of a blue back drop that reads Rappaport Forum](https://hls.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/2023_09_22_Rappaport-Forum_LGranger032.jpg)
![A woman gestures as she is speaking on a panel](https://hls.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/2023_09_22_Rappaport-Forum_LGranger015.jpg)
![A man sitting on a panel of three speaking.](https://hls.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/2023_09_22_Rappaport-Forum_LGranger036.jpg)
![A man speaks at a podium](https://hls.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/2023_09_22_Rappaport-Forum_LGranger006.jpg)
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
![](https://hls.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/2020_02_21_Inaugural-Rappaport-Forum_026_Tom-Fitzsimmons.jpg)
![Phyllis and Jerome Rappaport](https://hls.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/2020_02_21_Inaugural-Rappaport-Forum_028_Tom-Fitzsimmons-web-.jpeg)
![](https://hls.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/2020_02_21_Inaugural-Rappaport-Forum_038_Tom-Fitzsimmons-1-1.jpeg)
![Phyllis and Jerry Rappaport with Harvard University President Larry Bacow.](https://hls.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/2020_02_21_Inaugural-Rappaport-Forum_005_Tom-Fitzsimmons-web-.jpeg)