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Cambridge, MA – 11/8/2005 – The Harvard Law Review announced today that its annual Supreme Court Forum will be held on Thursday, November 17, 2005, at 4:00PM in the Austin North room on the Harvard Law School campus. The Forum will examine the most important legal developments of the Supreme Court’s October 2004 Term, which ended last June.
Each year, the Law Review hosts the Supreme Court Forum to examine the previous Term and to spotlight the work of legal academics and their contribution to constitutional law. This year, the Law Review has invited Judge Richard Posner of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, Professor Vicki Jackson of the Georgetown University Law Center, and Professor Ernest Young of the University of Texas School of Law. Judge Posner will present his Foreword, entitled “A Political Court.” Professors Jackson and Young will present their Comments on Roper v. Simmons, a decision from last Term that declared the juvenile death penalty unconstitutional.
Professor Phillip Bobbitt of the University of Texas School of Law will moderate this year’s Supreme Court Forum.
The Forum will coincide with the November 10th release of the Law Review’s historic Supreme Court Issue. This year’s Issue features Judge Posner’s Foreword, Comments by Professors Jackson and Young, an additional Comment on Roper by Professor Jeremy Waldron of the Columbia Law School, and comments on the twenty-five most important cases decided by the Supreme Court in its 2004 Term. Written by the editors of the Harvard Law Review, these comments discuss topics ranging from the the medicinal marijuana case to Kelo v. City of New London, which held that the government’s eminent domain power can be used to confiscate private land for economic redevelopment. Also included in the Issue is the Law Review’s annual compilation of Supreme Court statistics, including the voting patterns of the Justices.
Expressing enthusiasm for the upcoming Supreme Court Issue and Forum, Law Review President Brian Fletcher said: “The Supreme Court Issue is the culmination of months of work by our authors and editors and we are eager to share it with the public at our annual Supreme Court Forum. This year’s Issue is especially strong, and the discussion at the Forum promises to be every bit as insightful and illuminating as the pieces written by Judge Posner and Professors Jackson, Waldron and Young. We look forward to a great event.”
This year’s Supreme Court Issue is dedicated to the memory of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. Fletcher commented: “We are privileged to be able to publish several tribute essays written by Chief Justice Rehnquist’s colleagues, former clerks, and associates. They paint a picture of a brilliant jurist and a beloved mentor and friend.” The authors of the tribute essays are Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, R. Ted Cruz, James C. Duff, David G. Leitch, and Maureen E. Mahoney.
Students, members of the press, and members of the public are all invited to attend the Supreme Court Forum.
For answers to questions about the Supreme Court Forum and the Supreme Court Issue or for more information about the Harvard Law Review, please contact Brian Fletcher, President of the Harvard Law Review, at (617) 495-7889.