Conference Announcement: Popular Constitutionalism at Roger Williams

CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT
Roger Williams University School of Law Presents:
“Whose Constitution? Popular Constitutionalism and the 2012 Election”

Friday, February 24, 2012
8:30 a.m. Registration
9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Conference
Roger Williams University School of Law
Bristol, Rhode Island

The United States Constitution is at the center of public debate as the 2012 elections approach. Among Republican presidential candidates, Newt Gingrich argues that courts have usurped the Constitution, Rick Perry calls Social Security unconstitutional, Ron Paul calls the EPA unconstitutional, and all of them assert that the health care reform law is unconstitutional.

On the grass-roots right, the Tea Party movement paints President Obama’s policies as not merely wrong but unconstitutional and fundamentally un-American. They urge Americans to “take back” the Constitution and thereby the nation – from liberal, socialist and secular forces. On the grass-roots left, the Occupy movements are also guided by a vision of “We the People,” urging Americans to take back the nation – from social-conservative, corporate and financial forces.

In popular and political discourse, the Constitution has become a visceral symbol of civic faith, an embodiment of fundamental values, and an expression of national character. Meanwhile, inside the courthouse, the Constitution is generally understood as a discrete legal document, comprised of many technical terms that have been construed over generations to establish a set of complex doctrines.

This dichotomy between the understanding of the Constitution inside the courts and in popular politics raises a host of important questions: Should the Constitution’s meaning be determined solely in courts, and if not, what should be the role of public opinion? What is the connection between popular and legal constructions of the Constitution, and how do they influence one another?

Using a broad range of historical, theoretical and philosophic perspectives, conference participants will examine the increasingly prominent role that constitutional argument and rhetoric increasingly play in contemporary American politics.

MODERATOR:
• Professor Jared Goldstein, Professor of Law, Roger Williams University; author of “The Tea Party Movement and the Perils of Popular Originalism” (Arizona Law Review, 2011); “Can Popular Constitutionalism Survive the Tea Party Movement?” (Northwestern Law Review, forthcoming), and others.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS:
• Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, U.S. Senator for Rhode Island; member, Senate Judiciary Committee.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
• Jack M. Balkin, Yale Law School, Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment; author of Living Originalism (2011), Constitutional Redemption: Political Faith in an Unjust World (2011), The Constitution in 2020 (2009), and others.

PANELISTS:
• Carl Bogus, Roger Williams University School of Law
• Courtney Cahill, Roger Williams University School of Law
• Steven Calabresi, Northwestern University School of Law
• William Forbath, University of Texas School of Law
• Douglas NeJaime, Loyola Law School Los Angeles
• Reva Siegel, Yale Law School
• Lawrence Solum, Georgetown Law School
• Ilya Somin, George Mason University School of Law
• Mark Tushnet, Harvard Law School

For further information and registration, contact the Office of Alumni, Programs & Events at 401-254-4659, email lawevents@rwu.edu or visit http://law.rwu.edu/event/conference-whose-constitution-popular-constitutionalism-and-2012-election