Is Government Health Care Constitutional?

 Speakers:

• Professor Gillian Metzger, Professor of Law, Columbia Law School
• David B. Rivkin, Jr., Partner, Baker Hostetler LLP
• Hon. Louis L. Stanton, United States District Judge, Southern District of New York (Moderator)

Professor Gillian Metzger joined the Columbia law faculty in 2001. She teaches constitutional and administrative law, as well as a seminar on federalism. Her publications include: with Peter L. Strauss, Todd D. Rakoff, and Cynthia R. Farina, Gellhorn and Byse's Administrative Law: Cases and Commentaries (Foundation Press; joined as editor 2007) Congress, Article IV, and Interstate Relations, 120 Harv. L. Rev. 1468 (2007), Facial Challenges and Federalism, 105 Colum. L. Rev. 873 (2005), and Privatization As Delegation, 103 Colum. L. Rev. 1367 (2003). Prior to coming to Columbia, Professor Metzger served as a law clerk to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Patricia M. Wald of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She also worked as an attorney in the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, where she was instrumental in bringing litigation challenging Florida's permanent disenfranchisement of felons and assisted in efforts to defend campaign finance reform measures. Professor Metzger received her J.D. from Columbia in 1995, where she was executive articles editor of the Law Review, and also has a B. Phil. (masters) in philosophy from Oxford. She received her B.A. from Yale in 1987.

David B. Rivkin, Jr., is a partner in the Washington office of Baker Hostetler LLP, Co-Chairmen of the Center for Law and Counterterrorism at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Visiting Fellow at the Nixon Center, and a Contributing Editor of the National Review magazine. He specializes in regulatory - e.g., energy and environmental matters, export controls, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, sanctions -- and appellate litigation work, with a particular emphasis on complex constitutional, international law and public policy issues. His particular area of litigation expertise covers defense against Alien Tort Statute and civil RICO claims.

Before returning to the private sector in 1993, Mr. Rivkin served in a variety of legal and policy positions in the Reagan and George H. W. Bush Administrations, including stints at the White House Counsel's office, Office of the Vice President and the Departments of Justice and Energy. While in the government, he handled a variety of national security and domestic issues, including intelligence oversight, export controls, environmental and energy policy, sanctions, trade and constitutional issues. Prior to embarking on a legal career, he served during the 1970s and 1980s as a defense and foreign policy analyst, focusing on Soviet affairs, arms control, naval strategy and NATO-related issues. Mr. Rivkin holds a JD degree from Columbia University Law School, a Masters degree in Soviet Affairs from Georgetown University, and a Bachelors of Science degree from the Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service.

Mr. Rivkin is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a prolific writer and commentator and, over the years, has published numerous papers, articles, op eds, book reviews, and book chapters on a variety of international, legal, constitutional, defense, arms control, foreign policy, environmental and energy issues for various newspapers and magazines, including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Times, Washington Times, Los Angeles Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, National Interest, National Review, Policy Review, Harvard Journal of Law & Policy, American University Law Review, Administrative Law Journal, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and University of Chicago Journal of International Law.

In particular, Mr. Rivkin has written widely about various aspects of the international law of armed conflict, including jus in bello, treatment of unlawful combatants and jus ad bellum-related matters. He has filed amicus briefs in several leading post-September 11 national security cases and has been a frequent commentator and guest on TV and radio shows, including CNN, NBC and MSNBC, CBS, ABC, FOX News, NPR, PBS, BBC, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and numerous Australian, French, German and Swiss TV stations.

Hon. Louis Lee Stanton is a federal judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.  Judge Stanton received a B.A. from Yale University in 1950, a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1955, and an LL.B from University of Virginia School of Law in 1955. He was nominated to the court by Ronald Reagan on June 12, 1985, to a seat vacated by Henry F. Werker, confirmed by the United States Senate on July 16, 1985, and received his commission on July 18, 1985. He assumed senior status on October 1, 1996.

 

Reception 6:00 P.M., Debate 7:00 P.M.

Refreshments will be served. The event is free of charge.

For more information, telephone Mark Schuman at (212) 578-9043 or e-mail: [email protected].