Constitutional

A nonprofit law firm whose clients have ranged from Hobby Lobby to a Santeria priest

Third-year Harvard Law School students clashed in the high drama of the venerable Ames Moot Court Competition on Tuesday under the jurisdiction of visiting federal judges, including…

On Monday, Nov. 17, Judge Frank Easterbrook of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals kicked off an inaugural lecture series named after his old friend, colleague and intellectual compatriot, Justice Antonin Scalia, who attended the talk titled “Interpreting the Unwritten Constitution.”

The final round of Harvard Law School's annual Ames Moot Court competition was held this year on November 18, and was presided over by the Hon. Antonin Scalia ’60, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States; the Hon. Adalberto Jordan, U.S. Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit; and the Hon. Patricia Millett ’88, U.S. Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit.

In a move that caught many observers off guard, the U.S. Supreme Court last week announced it would review one of four cases currently challenging provisions…

In a discussion moderated by Professor John Manning, five Harvard Law School professors, Tomiko Brown-Nagin, John Coates, Richard Fallon, Charles Fried and Intisar Rabb, assessed last year’s Supreme Court decisions and shared their thoughts on those rulings.

In a discussion on the EPA's proposed regulations on power-plant emissions, HLS Professors Richard Lazarus and Jody Freeman said that the proposed rules have the potential to both transform the national energy scene and invigorate international climate-change negotiations.

A panel convened by Harvard Law School Professor Charles J. Ogletree Jr., director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice, reflected on what the recent crisis in Ferguson, Mo. means for broad policy issues, including racial discrimination, political disenfranchisement, policing, and the criminal justice system.

In an entertaining talk in HLS’s Wasserstein Hall with Dean Martha Minow on Wednesday, Associate Justice Elena Kagan '86 displayed her trademark wit and wisdom, honed during her years as a Harvard Law School student, professor, and dean, her work with the Clinton administration, and her stint as solicitor general.

Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe and HLS alumni Edward M. Ginsburg ’58 and Alan Howard ’87 were honored by the American Bar Association during the association’s annual meeting in Boston in August.

Margaret H. Marshall, Harvard Law School senior research fellow and lecturer on law, will receive the American Bar Association’s 2014 Thurgood Marshall Award. A retired chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, Marshall is being recognized for her long-term contributions to advancing civil rights, civil liberties and human rights in the United States.

In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that closely held, for-profit corporations have a right to exercise the religious beliefs of their owners and therefore cannot be required by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to provide contraception coverage to employees if it conflicts with those views. The Gazette spoke with Harvard Law School Professor Mark Tushnet  about the decision and what it means for future corporate challenges to the Affordable Care Act.

Harvard Law School Professor David J. Barron '94, an expert in administrative law and the separation of powers, has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

On May 14, 2014, Harvard Law School Professor Tomiko Brown-Nagin, along with Bruce Ackerman of Yale Law School and Steven Calabresi of Northwestern Law School participated in a discussion at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia titled “The Civil Rights Movement: Redefining the Meaning of Equality.”

In two new books, Professor Cass Sunstein, former administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, addresses human behavior and how government should best respond to it.

When writing laws, trying to prevent official abuse can actually create or exacerbate the very risks they are intended to avoid, argues Professor Adrian Vermeule ’93 in his new book, “The Constitution of Risk.”

“Religious Accommodation in the Age of Civil Rights,” a conference held at Harvard Law School April 3–5, brought together a group of distinguished legal scholars to discuss a broad range of controversies that have developed in recent years as marriage equality and anti-discrimination laws have prompted some religious organizations and private companies to assert claims of religious liberty and exemption from compliance with the law.

Vicki C. Jackson, Thurgood Marshall Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard, and an expert in constitutional law, federalism, and gender equality, has been elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

When writing laws, trying to prevent official abuse can actually create or exacerbate the very risks they are intended to avoid, argues Professor Adrian Vermeule ’93 in his new book, “The Constitution of Risk.”

Just days after the Supreme Court decided McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, which struck down aggregate limits on individual campaign contributions, U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes ’88 (D-Md.) delivered a keynote address at a Harvard Law School symposium on proposed legislation to reform campaign finance and dilute the influence of major donors.