Santa Clara University

Law Briefs

Stellar Speakers

During the fall 2004 semester, the School of Law hosted a number of distinguished speakers, including U. S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy and Professor Lani Guinier of Harvard Law School. “Santa Clara students benefit from the close ties our faculty have with leaders in the profession and the academy,” says Julia A. Yaffee, senior assistant dean for student services. “The quality of speakers and other visitors to the campus this year has been outstanding.”

UCLA Law Professor Cheryl Harris gave the Social Justice Diversity Lecture on September 30 at an event sponsored by the Center for Social Justice. Harris teaches constitutional law, civil rights, and employment discrimination, and her scholarly work focuses primarily on property and critical race theory.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy

United States Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy came to the law school for a day-long series of events on October 18. It was his third visit to SCU. He lectured in the constitutional law class of Professor Lee Bollinger in the morning, spoke on the inner workings of the Supreme Court to a packed house at Mayer Theatre in the afternoon, and that evening participated in a panel discussion called “The Role of Judges in Law Reform.” The panel was moderated by SCU law professor Gerald Uelmen.

Professor Peter Schuck of Yale Law School spoke on October 21 on “Diversity in America.” In his recent book, Diversity in America: Keeping Government at a Safe Distance, Schuck analyzes some of the most controversial policy arenas where politics and diversity intersect, such as immigration, multiculturalism, language, affirmative action, and school choice. His lecture focused on his recommendations for managing the challenges of diversity in the future.

Jeffrey L. Fisher of the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine in Seattle visited the law school on November 9 to speak about advocacy before the U.S. Supreme Court. Fisher argued and won two cases before the court in the 2003-04 term: Crawford v. Washington 124 S.Ct. 1354 (2004), which established new parameters for the sixth amendment right to confrontation of witnesses; and Blakely v. Washington 124 S.Ct. 2531 (2004), which upholds the right to jury trial on every factual issue that increases a sentence in criminal cases.

Lani Guinier, a professor at Harvard Law School, spoke on November 12. Guinier, well-known for her opinions on issues of race, gender, and democratic decision-making, spoke on The Miner’s Canary, her 2002 book written with Gerald Torres, which looked at the experience of people of color as a warning or “canary in the coal mine” signaling larger institutional inequities. The School of Law’s Center for Social Justice and Public Service sponsored her visit.