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The 25th Annual Federalist Society Faculty Conference held on January 4-5, 2024 in Washington, DC. The conference took place under the general aegis of the AALS Annual Meeting, with our events and speakers cross-listed in the AALS Annual Meeting Program. Panels and meals were held in the Westin Washington DC Downtown.
Thursday, January 4th
Welcome 11:50 am - 12:00 pm
Luncheon Discussion: Free Speech vs. Non-Discrimination: A Discussion on 303 Creative 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
7 Minute Presentations of Works in Progress Panel 1-A 3:00 pm - 4:15 pm
7 Minute Presentations of Works in Progress Panel 1-B 3:00 pm - 4:15 pm
Welcome Remarks by AALS President-Elect Melanie Wilson 4:30 pm - 4:45 pm
Panel: The Future of Student Loan Cancellation, State Standing, and the Major Questions Doctrine after Biden v. Nebraska 4:45 pm - 6:30 pm
Reception 6:30 pm - 7:45 pm
Friday, January 5th
Breakfast and Business Meeting 8:00 am - 9:00 am
Panel: Consideration of Race After SFFA v. Harvard 9:00 am - 10:45 am
7 Minute Presentations of Works in Progress Panel 2-A 11:00 am - 12:15 pm
7 Minute Presentations of Works in Progress Panel 2-B 11:00 am - 12:15 pm
Luncheon Panel: The Role of Markets in an Era of Climate Change and Grid Reliability Challenges 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Young Legal Scholars Paper Presentations 2:45 pm - 4:45 pm
Panel 4: Independent Agencies and Financial Regulation 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
303 Creative v. Elenis, which the U.S. Supreme Court decided last term, is the most recent case in the ongoing conflict between First Amendment freedoms and public accommodations laws. To what extent does a business owner's freedom of expression, including religious expression, preempt rules about not discriminating against persons in the marketplace? Can one differentiate between discrimination based on message and discrimination based on the customer? Should vendors whose work is expressive receive more protection than those who do not work in an expressive vein? The panelists will discuss 303 Creative itself and address broader issues that have arisen in other cases in the US and abroad.
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In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Secretary of Education created a nationwide student loan cancellation program for certain borrowers under the HEROES Act of 2003. In Biden v. Nebraska, the Supreme Court invalidated the Biden Administration's student loan cancellation program. In the course of doing so, it found that the State of Missouri had standing to challenge the program and invoked the major questions doctrine, with a notable concurrence by Justice Amy Barrett seeking to explain the major questions doctrine as a linguistic canon. This panel will discuss various questions raised by this decision, including the future of state and Article III standing, the scope, basis and future of the major questions doctrine, and the Administration’s ongoing efforts to craft a new student loan forgiveness program administratively.
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The Supreme Court’s SFFA v. Harvard decision signals a major change in university admissions and beyond. But what exactly will the change be? The answer depends in part on what university administrators and other organizational leaders think the case means for their practices, and in part on future litigation extending, cabining, or enforcing the decision. This panel will focus on the ramifications of SFFA for race-conscious practices in universities and other organizations, the patterns of compliance and resistance unfolding in the wake of the case, and what future litigation might bring.
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The energy sector is undergoing a period of profound change. In the 1990s and 2000s a bipartisan group of FERC commissioners and state utility commissioners pioneered numerous policy changes that introduced competitive forces into the gas and electricity sectors. Recently, however, Republicans and Democrats alike have argued that competition has turned out to be a mistake. This panel will consider the role of competition in a changing energy sector. Panelists will discuss what role competition should play as the United States seeks to address reliability challenges and reduce emissions.
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The constitutionality of independent agencies has long been a matter of controversy within the conservative legal movement. At the same time, the view that regulatory power is executive power is ascendant. Has the legal and political settlement that financial regulatory agencies need to be outside of political control become unstable? There are long-recognized risks when financial agencies are not independent, particularly the central bank. Should we treat the Fed—the central bank—differently? Does the Constitution allow financial exceptionalism?
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