Constitutional

The resilience of the U.S. Constitution, the nation’s founding document, was put to the test Sept. 17 by a number of scholars who challenged its legacy and effectiveness.

On his 70th birthday—and the anniversary celebration of the Constitution’s signing— David Souter, a graduate of both Harvard College and HLS and a native of Weare, N.H., offered some perspectives on the Constitution and his own career.

The U.S. Constitution, the cornerstone of the American federal system of government, will be under close scrutiny at Harvard on Thursday (Sept. 17) as a collection of scholars examines both its merits and shortcomings. A live webcast of the event will be available beginning at 1 p.m.

On Wednesday, September 9, the High Court heard reargument in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. Harvard Law School Professor Mark Tushnet, a constitutional law scholar and a leading expert on the First Amendment, answers some questions and offers an assessment of what’s at stake in the case.

On Wednesday, September 9, former HLS Dean Elena Kagan ’86 argued her first case as the solicitor general of the United States, in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. The case involves the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, a campaign finance reform statute passed by Congress in 2002 that was intended to limit election-related communications, especially so-called “attack ads.”

The following book review co-authored by Harvard Law School Professor Adrian Vermeule ’93 and University of Chicago Law School Professor Eric Posner ’91, entitled “Outcomes, outcomes,” will appear in the forthcoming August 12, 2009, edition of The New Republic. In the article, Vermeule and Posner discuss the book, “The Constitution in 2020.”

The following op-ed by Harvard Law School Professor Charles Ogletree ’78, “The strange jurisprudence of Justice Thomas,” appeared in the July 2, 2009, edition of the Bay State Banner.

What if the government forced all citizens to get genetic testing to find out if they were carriers of a deadly disease such as Tay-Sachs? “Any constitutional problem with that?” I. Glenn Cohen ’03 asks the 25 students in his popular course, Genetics and Reproductive Technology: Legal and Ethical Issues, as he paces before the blackboard in a Hauser classroom.

The following op-ed by Harvard Law School Professor Noah Feldman, “When arrogance takes the bench,” was published in the June 11, 2009 edition of the New York Times.

In the following interview in the June issue of The American Legion Magazine, HLS Professor Richard Parker ’70, a Constitutional law scholar, discusses his views on the Constitution and his support for a constitutional amendment that would return the right to protect the U.S. flag from physical desecration. Parker is chairman of the board of directors for the Citizens Flag Alliance and the author of "Here, the People Rule: A Constitutional Populist Manifesto." The title of the American Legion interview is "The Power to Protect."

Harvard Law School Professor Laurence Tribe’s ’66 new book, “The Invisible Constitution” (Oxford University Press, 2008), was the subject of a star-studded panel discussion sponsored by the Harvard Law Review on April 15 at HLS.

The future of Native American sovereignty under the Roberts Court is bleak, a panel of experts concluded at an April 6 conference examining 'Tribal Justice: The Supreme Court and the future of federal Indian law' at Harvard Law School.

Intelligent minds have long differed on the U.S. Constitution’s role as a blueprint for democracy. Some see it as the sacrosanct product of an enlightened era, its text to be followed literally. Others say that the Constitution must be interpreted more generally in order to apply its principles to current times.

Lieutenant Colonel Gregory E. Maggs ’88 is a reserve officer in the Army JAG Corps. He is senior associate dean for academic affairs and a professor of law at George Washington University Law School, specializing in commercial law, constitutional law, contracts, and counter-terrorism law.

Professor Adrian Vermeule’s newest book is likely to raise a few judicial eyebrows. “Law and the Limits of Reason,” just published by Oxford University Press, is a broad-based criticism of the dominant role played by courts in the American lawmaking process.

Professor Adrian Vermeule’s newest book is likely to raise a few judicial eyebrows. “Law and the Limits of Reason,” just published by Oxford University Press, is a broad-based criticism of the dominant role played by courts in the American lawmaking process.

The spread of false information and rumors poses growing risks to society and the economy...That was the message delivered by Harvard Law School Professor Cass Sunstein in a major lecture—titled “He Said THAT?? She Did WHAT?? On False Rumors and Free Speech”—marking his appointment as the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at HLS.

Brazilian Supreme Federal Court President Gilmar Ferreira Mendes discussed the development of Brazilian constitutional law since 1988 on Monday, October 27 in Pound Hall.

With the possible departures of as many as three members of the U.S. Supreme Court’s “liberal bloc” over the next four years, appointments to the nation’s top court by the next president could have a profound impact on the Court’s makeup for decades.

South Africa’s constitution and Bill of Rights are relatively new, but there is already a growing body of decisions interpreting or wrestling with what they…