Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

Vice President of the United States

Symposium Celebrating the 15th Anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and Presentation of the Legal Momentum Hero Award to Vice President Biden

Wednesday, April 22, 2009, 9:15 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Presentation of Legal Momentum Hero Award to Vice President Biden will be at:

Georgetown University Law Center
McDonough Hall - Hart Auditorium

600 New Jersey Avenue, NW

Washington, D.C.  20001

Morning Welcome and all panel sessions of the VAWA Gender Journal Symposium will be at:

Georgetown University Law Center

Gewirz Student Center - 12th Floor

120 F Street, NW

Washington, D.C.  20001

9:15 - 9:30 a.m.

Welcoming Remarks

T. Alexander Aleinikoff, Dean, Georgetown University Law Center

Irasema Garza, President, Legal Momentum

Jessica N. Heaven, Symposium Editor, Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law

Lynn Hecht Schafran, Director, National Judicial Education Program to Promote Equality for Women and Men in the Courts, Legal Momentum and Symposium Chair

9:30 - 10:30 a.m.

Panel 1: Present at the Creation: Drafting and Passing the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)

Victoria Nourse, Professor, Emory University School of Law and former Special Counsel to then-Senator Joseph Biden

Sally Goldfarb, Professor, Rutgers University School of Law and former Senior Staff Attorney, Legal Momentum

Patricia Reuss, Senior Policy Analyst, National Organization for Women and former Vice President for Government Relations, Legal Momentum

Hillary Shelton, Director, NAACP Washington Bureau

Helen Neuborne, Director, Quality Employment, Ford Foundation and former President, Legal Momentum (Moderator)

11:00 - 11:30 a.m.

Presentation of Legal Momentum Hero Award to Vice President Joseph Biden for Initiating and Championing the Violence Against Women Act

11:45 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.

Panel 2: The VAWA Civil Rights Provision: Shaping It, Saving It, Litigating It, Losing It

Mary Schroeder, Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Julie Goldscheid, Professor, City University of New York Law School and former Senior Staff Attorney, Legal Momentum

Judith Resnik, Professor, Yale Law School

Fred Strebeigh, Author, "Equal: Women Reshape American Law"

Martha Davis, Professor, Northeastern University School of Law and former Legal Director, Legal Momentum (Moderator)

1:45 - 2:45 p.m.

Panel 3: The Impact of VAWA: Billions (yes, with a B) for Prevention, Victim Services, Law Enforcement, Underserved Populations and the Courts, and Looking Ahead to VAWA IV

Claudia Bayliff, Project Attorney, National Judicial Education Program to Promote Equality for Women and Men in the Courts, Legal Momentum and former Assistant Director, Boulder County, Colorado, Rape Crisis Team

Lisalyn Jacobs, Vice President for Government Relations, Legal Momentum

Leslye Orloff, Director, Immigrant Women Program, Legal Momentum

Lynn Hecht Schafran, Director, National Judicial Education Program to Promote Equality for Women and Men in the Courts, Legal Momentum and Symposium Chair

Juley Fulcher, Director of Policy Programs, Break the Cycle; Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University; and former Consultant to Legal Momentum on VAWA Reauthorization (Moderator)

2:55 - 3:00 p.m.

Closing

Irasema Garza, President, Legal Momentum

This symposium is sponsored by the Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law and Legal Momentum. 

A Webcast will be available at https://www.law.georgetown.edu/webcast/.

Media planning to attend must RSVP to mediarelations@law.georgetown.edu and present valid media credentials to gain entrance at event. 

For media planning to attend the award presentation to Vice President Biden, still photography and camera pre-set must be complete by 7:30 a.m.  Press arrival begins one hour prior to presentation at 10:00 a.m.  Final press access is 30 minutes prior to presentation at 10:30 a.m.