Events
Minow Debates: Should We Expand the Supreme Court?
Thursday, September 30, 20215:00 PM - 6:30 PM
https://www.workcast.com/?cpak=6574402054644106&pak=1476770579112808
Alumni Relations
Stephanie Smith
stephanie.smith@law.northwestern.edu
For NLaw Community
Hari Osofsky, Dean and Myra and James Bradwell Professor of Law, cordially invites you to the Newt and Jo Minow Debate Series,
presented virtually and in partnership with Intelligence Squared U.S. Debates.
Live Screening and Roundtable:
Should We Expand the Supreme Court?
Thursday, September 30th
5:00 p.m. CT | 3:00 p.m. PT | 6:00 p.m. ET
This program is pending 1 general CLE credit in the state of Illinois.
Video connection information will be distributed via email before the debate.
The Motion:
We Should Expand the Supreme Court
Debate Topic:
Right now, nine justices hold tremendous power in
American law. It's been that way since Ulysses S. Grant first inhabited
the White House. The Constitution is silent on just how many justices
should sit on the nation's top bench, and in 1937 President Roosevelt
tried to add a slew of new appointments that would be sympathetic to his
New Deal programs. Congress didn't bite. Now, advocates on the left are
eyeing the bench once again. They see a Supreme Court out of touch with
the American electorate, obstructed by partisan interests, and rendered
illegitimate by years of controversial appointments. But those opposed
are sounding the alarms. A move to dramatically change one of the three
core pillars of American government would ultimately undermine the
court’s legitimacy. It’s not perfect, they argue. But the court has
consistently shown its independence and should not be compromised as a
result of partisan ambitions. So, in light of this emerging divide,
Intelligence Squared U.S. in partnership with Northwestern Pritzker
School of Law debates the motion: We Should Expand the Supreme Court.
For the motion: |
Against the motion: |
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Tamara Brummer Political Organizer & Strategist |
Dahlia Lithwick Legal Commentator & Host, Slate's Amicus Podcast |
|
Carter Phillips (MA '75, JD '77) Supreme Court & Appellate Litigator |
Akhil Reed Amar Constitutional Scholar, Yale University |
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Host and Moderator: |
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John Donvan Author & Correspondent, ABC News |
About the Newt and Jo Minow Debate Series:
The Newt and Jo Minow Debate Series at Northwestern Pritzker School of
Law is made possible by friends and colleagues of Newton N. Minow, a
1950 graduate of Northwestern Law. Together they honored Mr. Minow’s
numerous contributions to public and civic life by generously
establishing an endowment to support a series of debates that engage
outside experts, law school faculty, and students on important and
timely legal topics.
About Intelligence Squared U.S.:
A non-partisan, non-profit organization, Intelligence Squared U.S. was
founded in 2006 to address a fundamental problem in America: the extreme
polarization of our nation and our politics. Their mission is to
restore critical thinking, facts, reason, and civility to American
public discourse. The award-winning debate series reaches over 30
million American households through multi-platform distribution,
including radio, television, live streaming, podcasts, interactive
digital content, and on-demand apps on Roku and Apple TV. With over 170
debates and counting, Intelligence Squared U.S. has encouraged the
public to "think twice" on a wide range of provocative topics. Author
and ABC News correspondent John Donvan has moderated IQ2US since 2008.
About the debaters:
Tamara Brummer serves as Senior Advisor and
Director of National Outreach and Engagement for Demand Justice, one of
the leading organizations advocating for court expansion and reform.
Prior to this post, Tamara has spent years as a political organizer and
strategist building meaningful and impactful relationships rooted in a
shared vision of economic justice. This includes tenures across the
labor movement, notably with the AFL-CIO and International Union of
Painters and Allied Trades.
Dahlia Lithwick is one of the nation’s most
prominent progressive legal commentators and Supreme Court analysts. She
is a senior editor at Slate, where she has written her “Supreme Court
Dispatches” and “Jurisprudence” columns since 1999 and is the host of
the award-winning law podcast “Amicus.” She holds a J.D. from Stanford
University and is currently teaching a short course on the Supreme Court
and Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the University of Virginia law school.
Carter Phillips (MA '75, JD '77) is one of the most
experienced and celebrated Supreme Court and appellate lawyers in the
country. He has argued more than 85 cases before the Supreme Court both
in private practice and on behalf of the United States Government. He
served as Assistant to the Solicit General and clerked for Chief Justice
Warren E. Burger. He is a partner at the law firm Sidley Austin in
Washington, D.C. Carter is an alum of the Northwestern School of Law,
where he is a professor in the Supreme Court clinic.
Akhil Reed Amar is a constitutional scholar,
law professor, and author. He has been cited by the Supreme Court
justices in more than 40 cases, making him one of the most cited
scholars of his generation. After graduating from Yale Law School, he
clerked for then-Judge (now Justice) Stephen Breyer and then joined the
Yale faculty at only age 26. Akhil recently launched the weekly podcast
America’s Constitution and is currently a professor at Yale Law.