Federalist Society logo

2010 National Lawyers Convention

Controlling Government: The Framers, the Tea Parties and the Constitution

November 18 — 20, 2010

We have come a long way since the framing of the Constitution when our Founding Fathers struggled with the question of how to install a government strong enough to govern and limited enough to leave the people with the maximum practical degree of freedom. That question is perennial and highlighted by recent events. Indeed, some of our citizens recalled the passions that led to independence and the Constitution by forming tea parties. That movement today is seeking ways to limit government in practice. At the same time, other forces view such proposals as not only impractical, but undesirable. Some believe that elites need to help the people to avoid many of the problems and pitfalls of society. Others take a more Burkean view about the leavening of direct democracy. Many interesting questions arise here, and we hope to explore them through four Showcase panels which address attempts to limit government and also include some discussion of the dangers and problems of the people exercising overly direct control of the government.

Back to top
9:00 a.m. - 9:15 a.m.
Welcome and Opening Address by Mitch McConnell

2010 National Lawyers Convention

Topics: Constitution • Federalist Society • Separation of Powers • Supreme Court
The Mayflower Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Share

Event Video

Listen & Download

Description

  • Hon. Mitch McConnell, United States Senate
  • Introduction: Mr. Leonard A. Leo, Executive Vice President, The Federalist Society

Speakers

9:15 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Showcase Panel I: Enumerated Powers, the Tenth Amendment, and Limited Government

2010 National Lawyers Convention

Topics: Civil Rights • Constitution • Separation of Powers • Federalism & Separation of Powers
The Mayflower Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Share

Event Video

Listen & Download

Description

The Federal government’s power has vastly increased over the history of the Republic. To what degree do enumerated powers and the Tenth Amendment still limit the power of Congress? Could each chamber of Congress create a Committee on the Tenth Amendment that would have to approve bills for constitutionality before they could be considered on the floor? Are there constitutional amendments that are needed to rein in federal power? A Balanced Budget Amendment, for example, or an amendment requiring super-majorities to pass spending or tax bills? How about a constitutional amendment requiring that the budget of the United States be prepared every two years and that it be subject to popular approval at presidential or midterm elections?

  • Prof. Randy E. Barnett, Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Legal Theory, Georgetown University Law Center
  • Hon. R. Edward “Ted” Cruz, Partner, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
  • Prof. Michael J. Gerhardt, Samuel Ashe Distinguished Professor in Constitutional Law, Director, Center for Law and Government, University of North Carolina School of Law
  • Prof. Michael Stokes Paulsen, Distinguished University Chair and Professor, University of Saint Thomas School of Law
  • Prof. Mark V. Tushnet, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law, Harvard University Law School
  • Moderator:  Hon. J. Harvie Wilkinson, III, United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit

Speakers

11:15 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.
Address by Michael Barone

2010 National Lawyers Convention

Topics: Politics
The Mayflower Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Share

Event Video

Listen & Download

Description

  • Mr. Michael Barone, Senior Political Analyst for the Washington Examiner
  • Introduction: Mr. Douglas R. Cox, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher

Speakers

11:45 a.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Criminal Law: Expansion of Federal Criminal Power: Too Much or Too Little?

2010 National Lawyers Convention

Topics: Criminal Law & Procedure • Federalism • Separation of Powers • Federalism & Separation of Powers
The Mayflower Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Share

Event Video

Listen & Download

Description

  • Prof. John S. Baker, Jr., Dale E. Bennett Professor of Law, Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Louisiana State University
  • Prof. Sara Sun Beale, Charles L.B. Lowndes Professor, Duke University School of Law
  • Mr. Bradford A. Berenson, Partner, Sidley Austin LLP
  • Mr. Noah D. Bookbinder, Chief Counsel for Criminal Justice, Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate
  • Moderator: Hon. Edwin Meese III, Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow in Public Policy, Chairman, Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, The Heritage Foundation, and former United States Attorney General
  • Introduction: Prof. John G. Malcolm, Distinguished Visiting Practitioner in Residence, Pepperdine University School of Law

Speakers

11:45 a.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Litigation: Debating the Constitutionality of the Federal Health Care Legislation

2010 National Lawyers Convention

Topics: Constitution • Healthcare • Litigation
The Mayflower Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Share

Event Video

Listen & Download

Description

  • Prof. Randy E. Barnett, Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Legal Theory, Georgetown University Law Center
    Hon. Richard Cordray, Ohio Attorney General
  • Prof. Charles Fried, Beneficial Professor of Law, Harvard University Law School and former Justice, Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
  • Mr. David B. Rivkin, Jr., Partner, Baker & Hostetler LLP
  • Moderator: Hon. David R. Stras, Minnesota Supreme Court

Speakers

2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Corporations: The Creeping Federalization of Corporate Governance Law: The Dodd-Frank Bill

2010 National Lawyers Convention

Topics: Corporations, Securities & Antitrust • Federalism • Financial Services • Federalism & Separation of Powers • Financial Services & E-Commerce
The Mayflower Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Share

Event Video

Listen & Download

Description

  • Hon. Paul S. Atkins, Managing Director, Patomak Partners and former Commissioner, U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission
  • Prof. Jeffrey Mahoney, American University Washington College of Law and General Counsel, Council of Institutional Investors
  • Mr. Brandon Rees, Deputy Director, ALF-CIO Office of Investment
  • Ms. Sarah B. Teslik, Senior Vice President of Policy and Governance, Apache Corporation
  • Moderator: Prof. Lawrence A. Hamermesh, Attorney Fellow, Division of Corporate Finance, Office of the Chief Counsel, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Ruby R. Vale Professor of Corporate and Business Law at Widener's Institute of Delaware Corporate Law, Widener University School of Law

Speakers

2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Professional Responsibility: The Bloody Crossroads: Republican Party of Minnesota v. White Runs Into Caperton v. Massey

2010 National Lawyers Convention

Topics: Due Process • Federal Courts • First Amendment • Fourteenth Amendment • Professional Responsibility & Legal Education • State Courts • Supreme Court • Free Speech & Election Law
The Mayflower Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Share

Event Video

Listen & Download

Description

  • Mr. James Bopp, Jr., Bopp, Coleson, and Bostrom and General Counsel, James Madison Center for Free Speech
  • Hon. Thomas R. Phillips, Partner, Baker Botts LLP, and former Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Texas
  • Hon. Patience Drake Roggensack, Wisconsin Supreme Court
  • Hon. Clifford W. Taylor, Ave Maria School of Law and former Chief Justice, Michigan Supreme Court
  • Moderator: Hon. Thomas M. Hardiman, United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit

Speakers

2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Intellectual Property: Minimizing Risk and Maximizing Reward: IP as Regulatory Policy or Property Right?

2010 National Lawyers Convention

Topics: Administrative Law & Regulation • Intellectual Property • Property Law
The Mayflower Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Share

Event Video

Listen & Download

Description

  • Prof. Richard A. Epstein, Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law, New York University School of Law
  • Prof. Brett M. Frischmann, Yeshiva University, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
  • Prof. Mark F. Schultz, Southern Illinois University School of Law
  • Prof. Gigi Sohn, President and Founder, Public Knowledge
  • Moderator: Hon. Paul R. Michel (ret.), United States Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit

Speakers

3:45 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.
Federalism: Is There Any Remaining Limit to Federal Power?

2010 National Lawyers Convention

Topics: Constitution • Federalism • Federalism & Separation of Powers
The Mayflower Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Share

Event Video

Listen & Download

Description

  • Prof. John C. Eastman, Donald P. Kennedy Chair in Law, Director, Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, and former Dean,  Chapman University School of Law
  • Hon. Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, II, Attorney General of Virginia
  • Prof. Jeffrey Rosen, Professor of Law, The George Washington University and Legal Affairs Editor, The New Republic
  • Moderator: Hon. Jeffrey S. Sutton, United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit

Speakers

3:45 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.
Civil Rights: Immigration, the Arizona Statute, and E Pluribus Unum

2010 National Lawyers Convention

Topics: Civil Rights • Constitution • Federalism • Security & Privacy • State Governments • Federalism & Separation of Powers
The Mayflower Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Share

Event Video

Listen & Download

Description

  • Mr. Roger Clegg, President and General Counsel, Center for Equal Opportunity
  • Hon. Kris W. Kobach, Daniel L. Brenner/UMKC Scholar and Professor of Law, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law and Secretary of State-Elect, Kansas
  • Prof. Margaret D. Stock, Adjunct Instructor of the Department of Political Science, University of Alaska Anchorage, and Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.), Military Police Corps, United State Army Reserve
  • Moderator: Hon. James C. Ho, Solicitor General of Texas

Speakers

7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Lawyers Convention Annual Dinner

2010 National Lawyers Convention

Topics: Federalist Society • Supreme Court
Omni Shoreham Hotel
2500 Calvert St NW
Washington, DC 20008

Share

Description

  • Hon. Antonin Scalia, United States Supreme Court
  • Interviewed by: Ms. Jan Crawford, CBS News Chief Legal Correspondent

Speakers

Back to top
9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
A Discussion: When Does Regulation of the Private Sector Go Too Far?

2010 National Lawyers Convention

Topics: Administrative Law & Regulation
The Mayflower Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Share

Event Video

Listen & Download

Description

  • Mr. Lanny J. Davis, Lanny J. Davis & Associates, LLC 
  • Mr. Michael J. Madigan, Partner, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
  • Moderator: Mr. Pete Williams, Justice Correspondent, NBC News

Speakers

10:15 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Showcase Panel II: Government of the People, by the People, and for the People?

2010 National Lawyers Convention

Topics: Civil Rights • Constitution • Culture • Federalism • Politics • Federalism & Separation of Powers
The Mayflower Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Share

Event Video

Listen & Download

Description

Direct democracy is feasible today to an extent that it was not feasible in 1787. Does that change the calculus in choosing between direct democracy and representation? What lessons, positive or negative, can be learned from the state experience with initiatives and referenda? Should Congress set up a system of national initiatives and referenda? Can Congress delegate its legislative power to the American people without violating the nondelegation doctrine? Should national initiatives and referenda be binding or merely advisory? Would it be acceptable for a national referendum to alter a law so as to effectively reverse a Supreme Court decision? Should the health care law be subject to such a referendum? Should increases in the national debt or in taxes be subject to voter approval?

  • Prof. Robert D. Cooter, Herman F. Selvin Professor of Law, and Director, Program in Law and Economics, University of California Berkeley School of Law
  • Prof. Richard A. Epstein, Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law, New York University School of Law
  • Prof. William N. Eskridge, Jr., John A. Garver Professor of Jurisprudence, Yale Law School
  • Prof. Thomas W. Merrill, Charles Evans Hughes Professor of Law, Columbia University School of Law
  • Moderator:  Prof. Steven G. Calabresi, George C. Dix Professor of Law, Northwestern University School of Law, Chairman, The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies

Speakers

12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Financial Services Panel: The Constitutionality of the Dodd-Frank Financial Services Reform Act

2010 National Lawyers Convention

Topics: Constitution • Financial Services • Financial Services & E-Commerce
The Mayflower Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Share

Event Video

Listen & Download

Description

  • Hon. C. Boyden Gray, Gray & Schmitz LLP, and former U.S. Ambassador to the European Union
  • Prof. Ronald M. Levin, Henry Hitchcock Professor of Law, Washington University in St. Louis School of Law
  • Hon. Peter J. Wallison, Arthur F. Burns Fellow in Financial Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute
  • Prof. Arthur E. Wilmarth, Jr., Professor of Law, The George Washington University Law School
  • Moderator: Hon. Carlos T. Bea, United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Speakers

12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Labor: Regulatory Power Unleashed?

2010 National Lawyers Convention

Topics: Administrative Law & Regulation • Labor & Employment Law
The Mayflower Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Share

Description

  • Ms. Kim Bobo, Executive Director, Interfaith Worker Justice
  • Hon. Victoria A. Lipnic, United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
  • Dr. Roger Pilon, Vice President for Legal Affairs, B. Kenneth Simon Chair in Constitutional Studies, and Director, Center for Constitutional Studies, Cato Institute
  • Moderator: Hon. Edith H. Jones, United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit

Speakers

12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Religious Liberties: Christian Legal Society vs. Martínez

2010 National Lawyers Convention

Topics: Constitution • Education Policy • First Amendment • Religious Liberty • Supreme Court • Free Speech & Election Law • Religious Liberties
The Mayflower Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Share

Event Video

Listen & Download

Description

  • Prof. Richard W. Garnett, IV, Associate Dean, University of Notre Dame Law School
  • Mr. Jordan Lorence, Senior Counsel and Senior Vice President, Office of Strategic Initiatives, Alliance Defense Fund
  • Mr. Paul M. Smith, Partner, Jenner & Block LLP
  • Prof. Eugene Volokh, Gary T. Schwartz Professor of Law, University of California at Los Angeles School of Law
  • Moderator: Hon. William H. Pryor Jr., United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit

Speakers

2:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Address by Senator-Elect Michael S. Lee

2010 National Lawyers Convention

Topics: Constitution • Federal Courts • Federalism & Separation of Powers
The Mayflower Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Share

Event Video

Listen & Download

Description

  • Hon. Michael S. Lee, United States Senator-Elect, Utah
  • Introduction: Mr. Leonard A. Leo, Executive Vice President, The Federalist Society

Speakers

2:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Address by Congressman Michael R. Pence

2010 National Lawyers Convention

Topics: Constitution • Federalism • Federalism & Separation of Powers
The Mayflower Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Share

Event Video

Listen & Download

Description

  • Hon. Michael R. Pence, United States House of Representatives, Indiana
  • Introduction: Hon. David M. McIntosh, Partner, Mayer Brown Row & Maw, LLP and Vice-Chairman, The Federalist Society

Speakers

3:15 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.
International: America as Hegemon and International Law

2010 National Lawyers Convention

Topics: Foreign Policy • International Law & Trade • International & National Security Law
The Mayflower Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Share

Event Video

Listen & Download

Description

  • Prof. Barry E. Carter, Director, Center for Transnational Business and the Law, Georgetown University Law Center
  • Prof. John O. McGinnis, George C. Dix Professor in Constitutional Law, Northwestern University School of Law
  • Prof. Margaret E. McGuinness, Saint John's University School of Law
  • Prof. Ruth Wedgwood, Edward B. Burling Professor of International Law and Diplomacy, Director of the International Law and Organizations Program, Johns Hopkins University, The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
  • Prof. John C. Yoo, University of California, Berkeley School of Law
  • Moderator:  Hon. Michael Chertoff, Senior of Counsel, Covington & Burling LLP, former Secretary, United States Department of Homeland Security

Speakers

3:15 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.
Free Speech: Anonymity and The First Amendment

2010 National Lawyers Convention

Topics: Constitution • First Amendment • Security & Privacy • Free Speech & Election Law
The Mayflower Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Share

Event Video

Listen & Download

Description

  • Prof. Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, University of Notre Dame Law School
  • Hon. A. Raymond Randolph, United States Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit
  • Prof. Joel R. Reidenberg, Professor of Law and Director, Center on Law and Information Policy, Fordham University School of Law
  • Prof. Bradley A. Smith, Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault Designated Professor of Law, Capital University Law School
  • Moderator: Hon. Brett M. Kavanaugh, United States Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit

Speakers

5:15 p.m. - 5:45 p.m.
10th Annual Barbara K. Olson Memorial Lecture

2010 National Lawyers Convention

Topics: Constitution • Culture • Federal Courts • Federalist Society • Founding Era & History
The Mayflower Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Share

Event Video

Listen & Download

Description

On September 11, 2001, at the age of 45 and at the height of her professional and personal life, Barbara K. Olson was murdered in the terrorist attacks against the United States as a passenger on the hijacked American Airlines flight that was flown into the Pentagon. The Federalist Society established this annual lecture in Barbara's memory because of her enormous contributions as an active member, supporter, and volunteer leader. Solicitor General Theodore B. Olson delivered the first lecture in November 2001. The lecture series continued in following years with other notable individuals. In 2010, Judge Dennis G. Jacobs of the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit delivered the lecture.

  • Hon. Dennis G. Jacobs, United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
  • Introduction: Mr. Eugene B. Meyer, President, The Federalist Society

For information about Barbara Olson and this lecture series, click HERE.

For a list of past lecturers, click HERE.

Speakers

Back to top
9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
Showcase Panel III: Equality, Liberty, and Risk

2010 National Lawyers Convention

Topics: Administrative Law & Regulation • Civil Rights • Contracts • Founding Era & History • Litigation • Philosophy • Politics
The Mayflower Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Share

Event Video

Listen & Download

Description

Americans historically have favored equality of opportunity and liberty with the knowledge that willingness to expose oneself to risk yields greater rewards for success and greater penalties for failure than are available under European style democratic socialism. In recent years, the role of the government in mitigating risk has expanded in a wide variety of areas: tort and contract law, health law, financial institutions, the auto industry and hurricane insurance, among others. How ought Americans to balance equality, liberty, and risk? Is America’s historical preference for risk and liberty a function of the frontier aspects of our history? Is this expanded role of government the necessary consequence of democracy over time? Or is it possible or desirable to reverse that expansion and, if so, how can it be done?

  • Prof. Carl T. Bogus, Professor of Law, Roger Williams University School of Law; Visiting Professor, Earle Mack School of Law at Drexel University
  • Hon. Frank H. Easterbrook, United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
  • Hon. C. Boyden Gray, Gray & Schmitz LLP, and former U.S. Ambassador to the European Union
  • Prof. Christine Jolls, Gordon Bradford Tweedy Professor of Law and Organization, Yale Law School
  • Moderator: Hon. Barrington D. Parker, Jr., United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
  • Introduction: Mr. Dean A. Reuter, Director of Practice Groups, The Federalist Society

Speakers

10:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Telecommunications: Rewriting the Telecomm Act: Has the Time Come?

2010 National Lawyers Convention

Topics: Administrative Law & Regulation • Telecommunications & Electronic Media
The Mayflower Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Share

Event Video

Listen & Download

Description

Address

  • Hon. Thomas J. Tauke, Executive Vice President of Public Affairs, Policy and Communications, Verizon Communications, and former U.S. Representative, Iowa
  • Introduction: Hon. Robert M. McDowell, Federal Communications Commission

Panel

  • Mr. Shawn H. Chang, Majority Counsel, Communications and Technology Policy, United States House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce
  • Ms. Parul P. Desai, Policy Counsel, Consumers Union
  • Ms. Maureen K. Ohlhausen, Partner, Wilkinson, Barker, Knauer, LLP
  • Mr. Howard W. Waltzman, Partner, Mayer Brown LLP
  • Moderator: Hon. David B. Sentelle, United States Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit

Speakers

10:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Environmental Law: EPA: An Agency Gone Wild or Just Doing Its Job?

2010 National Lawyers Convention

Topics: Administrative Law & Regulation • Environmental & Energy Law • Property Law • Separation of Powers • Federalism & Separation of Powers • Environmental Law & Property Rights
The Mayflower Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Share

Event Video

Listen & Download

Description

  • Mr. Jeffrey B. Clark, Partner, Kirkland & Ellis LLP
  • Mr. David D. Doniger, Natural Resources Defense Council
  • Hon. Roger R. Martella, Jr., Partner, Sidley Austin LLP and Former General Counsel, Environmental Protection Agency
  • Prof. Rena I. Steinzor, Professor of Law, University of Maryland School of Law and President, Center for Progressive Reform
  • Moderator: Mr. Hill B. Wellford, Partner, Bingham McCutchen LLP

Speakers

10:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Administrative Law: Limits to Government and Regulatory Authority: Comcast v. FCC

2010 National Lawyers Convention

Topics: Administrative Law & Regulation • Telecommunications & Electronic Media
The Mayflower Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Share

Description

  • Prof. Marvin Ammori, Assistant Professor of Law, University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Law
  • Hon. Ronald A. Cass, President, Cass & Associates, PC
  • Prof. Thomas W. Hazlett, Professor of Law & Economics, George Mason University School of Law and Director of the Information Economy Project, The National Center for Technology and Law
  • Mr. Austin Schlick, General Counsel, Federal Communications Commission
  • Moderator: Hon. Diarmuid F. O'Scannlain, United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Speakers

12:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Third Annual Rosenkranz Debate and Luncheon

2010 National Lawyers Convention

Topics: Civil Rights • Constitution • Federalism • First Amendment • Fourteenth Amendment • Religious Liberty • State Governments • Federalism & Separation of Powers • Religious Liberties
The Mayflower Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Share

Event Video

Listen & Download

Description

A Debate on the Constitutionality of Proposition 8

  • Prof. Richard A. Epstein, Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law, New York University School of Law
  • Prof. William N. Eskridge, Jr., John A. Garver Professor of Jurisprudence, Yale Law School
  • Moderator: Hon. Robert S. Smith, Associate Judge, Court of Appeals, State of New York
  • Introduction: Mr. Eugene B. Meyer, President, The Federalist Society

Speakers

2:30 p.m. - 4:15 p.m.
Showcase Panel IV: Ideas for Structural Change: Term Limits, Reviving the Right to Civil Jury Trial, Moving Administrative Law Judges to Article III, and Others

2010 National Lawyers Convention

Topics: Administrative Law & Regulation • Constitution • Federal Courts • Founding Era & History • Separation of Powers • Federalism & Separation of Powers
The Mayflower Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Share

Event Video

Listen & Download

Description

Are there structural ways that are practically plausible to limit or reduce the power of government? Or will any such efforts only be possible on a case-by-case basis? Two possible areas for structural change: Would it be desirable to institute a system of term limits for high federal officials in addition to the two-term limit on the President? Should members of Congress be term limited? How about binding term limits for both parties for years of service as a member or certainly as a chairman of a congressional committee? Alternatively, is the entrenched Congress a desirable balance to direct democracy? Are there times when the government (or at least an elite represented by long-term members of Congress) should overrule the wishes of the people? Or is there a good argument that, without term limits, there is a practical way to limit the power of Congress? Would term limits, even if enacted, have that effect?

Or, should Congress restore the Seventh Amendment right of jury trial by statutorily providing for civil juries in administrative law cases? Couldn’t six person juries of specialists make administrative law less arbitrary? What about moving the more than 1,000 administrative law judges out of the agencies altogether and giving them life tenure while forbidding them from engaging in law execution? Wouldn’t life tenure make administrative law judges more independent? Does the Supreme Court’s decision in June 2010 in Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board suggest that we need to think harder about the constitutional position of ALJs?

  • Prof. Lillian R. BeVier, David and Mary Harrison Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law
  • Mr. Michael A. Carvin, Partner, Jones Day
  • Mr. Douglas T. Kendall, President, Constitutional Accountability Center
  • Mr. Patrick McSweeney, Legal Advisor, Virginia TEA Party Patriots Federation
  • Mr. C. Gibson Vance, Shareholder, Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, PC and President, American Association for Justice
  • Moderator: Hon. Diane S. Sykes, United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit

Speakers

4:15 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.
Address: "Emerging Technologies: The Future of Law"

2010 National Lawyers Convention

Topics: Professional Responsibility & Legal Education
The Mayflower Hotel
1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Share

Event Video

Listen & Download

Description

  • Prof. Gary E. Marchant, Lincoln Professor of Emerging Technologies, Law and Ethics, Arizona State University Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law and Executive Director, ASU Center for the Study of Law, Science and Technology
  • Introduction: Mr. Dean A. Reuter, Director of Practice Groups, The Federalist Society

Speakers

Back to top