AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave.
Austin, TX 78705
1900 University Ave.
Austin, TX 78705
Online registration is now closed. Panels will be livestreamed on this page and on our YouTube channel.
The University of Texas School of Law Federalist Society Chapter will host the 42nd National Student Symposium on March 3-4, 2023. The Symposium is organized around the theme Law and Democracy and will tackle important issues surrounding originalism, federalism, and the democratic process.
The Symposium will host five panels on significant constitutional issues that we hope will generate serious discussion among students, scholars, and practitioners:
- Panel I: What is Democracy?
- Panel II: The Democratic Election Process: What is Fair and Who Decides Fairness?
- Panel III: Unique Aspects of American Democracy: Structural Bugs or Features?
- Panel IV: Does Federalism Lead to a More United or Disunited Democracy?
- Panel V: Is Judicial Review Democratic?
Featuring a Keynote Address from:
Governor Greg Abbott
Sponsors:
SYMPOSIUM REGISTRATION:
Student Symposium Registration ONLY (includes all events except the Saturday night cocktail reception and banquet):
- $10 (student members)
- $100 (non-student members)
Banquet Registration (This does not include Student Symposium registration. You must register for the Student Symposium Registration as well if you’d like to attend the panels/lunch. Includes Saturday night cocktail reception):
- $75 (student members)
- $200 (non-student members)
TRAVEL SCHOLARSHIP:
50% TRAVEL SCHOLARSHIP (TRAVEL ONLY—does not include lodging) FOR DUES-PAYING STUDENT MEMBERS.
Click here to JOIN or RENEW your Student Membership ($5)
ACCOMMODATIONS:
The University of Texas School of Law Federalist Society Chapter has negotiated discounted rooms at several hotels. All of the hotels are located in the same area, within walking distance (2-5 blocks) from the AT&T Hotel and Conference Center. We strongly recommend booking your hotel as early as possible to ensure rooms are available and rates are low.
AC Hotel by Marriott Austin-University
- https://www.marriott.com/events/start.mi?id=1669924506643&key=GRP
- $249/night
- 2 blocks (3 minute walk) from the AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
- Use the link above to request a room with the Federalist Society Student Symposium group block.
- Please note: there are a limited number of rooms, and they are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Texas BBQ Bash*
2023 National Student Symposium
The University of Texas School of Law—Courtyard
727 E. Dean Keeton St.
Austin, TX 78705
727 E. Dean Keeton St.
Austin, TX 78705
Description
Bring your boots and hats and join us for Texas BBQ and an ice-cold margarita in the warm Texas sunshine!
Please note: this event will occur on the law school campus, which is about a 5-minute drive (or 20-minute walk) from the AT&T Hotel and Conference Center, where all other Symposium events will take place.
*Free to attend but RSVP Required
4:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Registration
2023 National Student Symposium
Zlotnik Family Ballroom Foyer
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
Description
Please note: Parking is available in the attached Conference Center Garage for $21 per day. Guests may self-park or valet at the University Avenue entrance. Visit https://meetattexas.com/about/transportation-directions-parking for more information.
6:00 p.m. - 6:15 p.m.
Welcome & Opening Remarks
2023 National Student Symposium
Zlotnik Family Ballroom
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
Event Video
Description
Featuring:
- Welcome: Emmalyn Decker, Symposium Chair, University of Texas School of Law
- Opening Remarks: Dean Robert "Bobby" Chesney, Dean and James A. Baker III Chair in the Rule of Law and World Affairs, University of Texas School of Law
Speakers
6:15 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Panel I: What is Democracy?
2023 National Student Symposium
Zlotnik Family Ballroom
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
Event Video
Description
There has been much discussion about threats to democracy over the past year. But conceptions of democracy differ. What does democracy entail in our system? Is the U.S. a democracy, a republic, a democratic republic? What does democracy require and what genuinely threatens it? How do we address such threats?
Featuring:
- Moderator: Hon. Edith H. Jones, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- Prof. J. Joel Alicea, Co-Director, the Project on Constitutional Originalism and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, and Assistant Professor of Law, The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law
- Prof. Bruce E. Cain, Charles Louis Ducommun Professor in the School of Humanities & Sciences, Director of the Bill Lane Center for the American West, Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, Professor at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, Stanford University
- Prof. Daniel Lowenstein, Professor of Law Emeritus, UCLA Law
- Prof. Stephen I. Vladeck, Charles Alan Wright Chair In Federal Courts, The University of Texas School of Law
Speakers
8:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Friday Night Cocktail Reception
2023 National Student Symposium
Interior Courtyard and Tejas Room
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
Description
Join us for a Cocktail Reception with drinks and light hors d'oeuvres.
Please note: the courtyard closes at 9:00 p.m. in order to limit noise disturbances to hotel guests. The reception will move indoors to the Tejas Room just before 9:00 p.m.
8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.
Breakfast
2023 National Student Symposium
Zlotnik Family Ballroom Foyer
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center,
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center,
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
Description
Please join us for a selection of breakfast tacos, pastries, coffee, and juice before the first panel of the day.
8:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Registration
2023 National Student Symposium
Zlotnik Family Ballroom Foyer
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
9:00 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.
Panel II: The Democratic Election Process: What is Fair and Who Decides Fairness?
2023 National Student Symposium
Zlotnik Family Ballroom
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
Event Video
Description
Democracy begins with elections. But the process for voting in our elections has been increasingly a matter of political contestation. This panel will consider these process issues, including the Voting Rights Act, campaign finance reform, early and mail in- balloting, and eligibility to vote, including that of felons and aliens. The panel will also consider the question of how the decision-making over these issues should be divided, between the courts and democratic legislatures as well as between the states and the federal government.
Featuring:
- Moderator: Hon. Timothy M. Tymkovich, The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
- Audrey Perry Martin, Partner, Gober Group
- Lee E. Goodman, Partner, Wiley
- Prof. Derek T. Muller, Ben V. Willie Professorship in Excellence, University of Iowa College of Law
- Prof. Richard Pildes, Sudler Family Professor of Constitutional Law, New York University School of Law
Speakers
10:45 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Book Signing: A Short & Happy Guide to Judicial Clerkships
Zlotnik Family Ballroom Foyer
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave.
Austin, TX 78705
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave.
Austin, TX 78705
Description
Featuring:
- Prof. Tessa L. Dysart, Author, A Short & Happy Guide to Judicial Clerkships, Assistant Director of Legal Writing & Clinical Professor of Law The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law
Speakers
11:00 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.
Panel III: Unique Aspects of American Democracy: Structural Bugs or Features?
2023 National Student Symposium
Zlotnik Family Ballroom
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
Event Video
Description
Many aspects of the United States governing structure have been criticized as inconsistent with democracy or at least with majority rule. Elections for the House of Representatives and state legislatures are subject to gerrymandering. The Senate represents large and small states equally and thus unequally weights the voters across the nation. The Electoral College, too, provides electoral advantages to some states over others. And the institutions themselves sometimes depart from majority rule, most notably in the United States Senate with its filibuster. Can these arrangements be justified, or should they be reformed?
Featuring:
- Moderator: Hon. Patrick J. Bumatay, The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- Prof. Sanford V. Levinson, W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood, Jr. Centennial Chair in Law, University of Texas School of Law
- Prof. Bradley A. Smith, Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault Professor of Law, Capital University Law School
- Prof. Stephanie Barclay, Associate Professor of Law and Director of the Religious Liberty Initiative, Notre Dame Law School
- Prof. Lori A. Ringhand, J. Alton Hosch Professor of Law & Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor, University of Georgia School of Law
Speakers
12:45 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Lunch & Breakout Session A: Introduction to the Lawyers Division
2023 National Student Symposium
Zlotnik Family Ballroom Breakout B
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
Description
Featuring:
- Moderator: Lisa Budzynski Ezell, Vice President & Director, Lawyers Chapters, The Federalist Society
- Cory Liu, Austin Lawyers Chapter President
- William Peterson, Partner, Morgan Lewis
- Amanda Salz, Associate, Morgan, Lewis, & Bockius LLP
- Seth Smitherman, Law Clerk, Hon. Jimmy Blacklock, Supreme Court of Texas
- Natalie Thompson, Assistant Solicitor General, Office of the Texas Attorney General
Speakers
12:45 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Lunch & Breakout Session B: Becoming an Academic
2023 National Student Symposium
Zlotnik Family Ballroom Breakout B
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
Description
Featuring:
- Moderator: Hon. Lee Liberman Otis, Senior Vice President & Director, Faculty Division, The Federalist Society
- Prof. Stephanie H. Barclay, Associate Professor of Law and Director of the Religious Liberty Initiative, Notre Dame Law School
- Prof. Steven T. Collis, University of Texas at Austin School of Law
- Prof. Tara Leigh Grove, Vinson & Elkins Chair in Law, University of Texas School of Law
- Prof. Derek T. Muller, Professor of Law, University of Iowa College of Law
Speakers
2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Panel IV: Does Federalism Lead to a More United or Disunited Democracy?
2023 National Student Symposium
Zlotnik Family Ballroom
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
Event Video
Description
The United States is constitutionally not one, but fifty-one, democracies. How can they all fit together? The oldest issue in our republic is the relation between the federal and state governments: where does the democratic decision-making power of one leave off and the other begin? The question remains relevant today on such issues as the proper locus of decisions about abortion. But the relation of the states to one another is now also pressing as states deploy their authority to influence the democratic decision making of other states, on issues as disparate as gun and climate policy. Are the proper boundaries between our different democracies best policed by the judiciary or by democratic politics?
Featuring:
- Moderator: Hon. Andrew Oldham, The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- Prof. Ilya Somin, Professor of Law, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School
- Prof. Jud Campbell, Professor of Law, University of Richmond School of Law
- Prof. Michael S. Greve, Professor of Law, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School
Speakers
3:30 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.
Break
2023 National Student Symposium
Zlotnik Family Foyer
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
Description
Join us for light snacks in the foyer.
3:45 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.
Panel V: Is Judicial Review Democratic?
2023 National Student Symposium
Zlotnik Family Ballroom
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
Event Video
Description
Judicial Review has been criticized throughout American history as undemocratic, creating what has been known in the modern era as the counter-majoritarian difficulty. Is the Court in fact counter-majoritarian? To what degree? If so, is it a difficulty? What theories of constitutional interpretation best reconcile judicial review with democracy—originalism or living constitutionalism or something else?
Featuring:
- Moderator: Hon. James Ho, The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- Prof. Tara Leigh Grove, Vinson & Elkins Chair in Law, University of Texas School of Law
- Prof. Lawrence Sager, Alice Jane Drysdale Sheffield Regents Chair, University of Texas School of Law
- Prof. Keith Whittington, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Politics, Princeton University
Speakers
5:15 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Break
2023 National Student Symposium
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave.
Austin, 78705
1900 University Ave.
Austin, 78705
6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Cocktail Reception*
2023 National Student Symposium
Zlotnik Family Ballroom Foyer
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
Description
Join us for a cocktail reception with drinks and light hors d'oeuvres.
*This event requires the purchase of a separate ticket.
7:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Banquet, Keynote Address with Governor Greg Abbott, and Presentation of the Annual Joseph Story Award and Feddie Awards*
2023 National Student Symposium
Zlotnik Family Ballroom
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
AT&T Hotel and Conference Center
1900 University Ave
Austin, TX 78705
Event Video
Description
Join us for a Texas-sized BBQ banquet featuring Austin BBQ. Dress in your Texas best! Attire is dressy, but cowboy boots and hats are welcome!
*This event requires the purchase of a separate ticket.
