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Professor Feldblum will focus her comments on Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, which addresses the constitutionality of the Solomon Amendment. The specific provision in question withholds federal funds from institutions of higher education that restrict military recruiters’ access to students, in an effort to enforce institutional nondiscrimination policies. Other cases that Professor Feldblum will be prepared to discuss include Garcetti v. Ceballos involving First Amendment protection for job-related speech, Gonzales v. O Centro addressing the scope of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, Goodman v. Georgia concerning disability discrimination in the prison context, and Schaffer v. Weast questioning where the burden of proof lies under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Professor Pillard will discuss Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood, a case before the Court that concerns parental consent for abortion. She will also comment on Scheidler v. Now, a long-lived case that addresses, among other issues, whether abortion protests can be criminalized under the Hobbs Act, and Gonzales v. Oregon, questioning whether the Controlled Substances Act can be used by the federal government to restrict assisted suicide authorized by state law.
Professor Cole will comment on cases concerning the application of the death penalty and search and seizure. Death penalty cases include House v. Bell, concerning the standards governing DNA evidence of innocence, and three cases reviewing the role of the jury in deciding whether to impose a death sentence: Oregon v. Guzek, Kansas v. Marsh, and Brown v. Sanders. Search and seizure cases include Georgia v. Randolph (search of home on co-owner's consent), and Hudson v. Michigan (application of exclusionary rule where police violate "knock and announce" rule).
Professor Pitofsky will discuss cases before the Court that raise antitrust issues and will put these cases in the context of overall review by the Supreme Court in the antitrust area. The Robinson-Patman Act will be examined in Volvo Trucks N.A., Inc. v. Reeder-Simco GMC, Inc., price-fixing under the Sherman Act is raised by Texaco v. Dagher, and unlawful tying through the presumption of patent derived market power is questioned in Illinois Tool Works v. Independent Ink.
Professor Dinh and Professor Lazarus will discuss the changing composition of the Court resulting from Justice O’Connor’s announced retirement and the death of Chief Justice Rehnquist. They will also speak to the nomination and confirmation process for new Justices, with special focus on John Roberts as Chief Justice.
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ON PANELISTS:
Professor Bloch joined the faculty in 1982. She teaches Constitutional Law I and II, Federal Courts, Communications Law, and a seminar on the Supreme Court. Professor Bloch is the author of numerous articles in the areas of constitutional and administrative law and is the co-author of the book Supreme Court Politics: The Institution and Its Procedures, published by West Publishing Company in 1994. She has given lectures and interviews on a variety of topics, including impeachment, presidential immunity, historical overviews of the Supreme Court, the role of the Constitution in this country and its relevance for emerging democracies. Before joining the Law Center, Professor Bloch served as a law clerk for Justice Thurgood Marshall and for Judge Spottswood Robinson. She also practiced law at Wilmer, Cutler, and Pickering for about four years. Susan Bloch did her legal training at the University of Michigan, where she graduated summa cum laude. Before that, she received graduate degrees in mathematics and computer science from the University of Michigan and a B.A. with distinction from Smith College.
Professor Feldblum joined the faculty as a visiting professor for the 1991-93 academic years. In 1993, she established the Federal Legislation Clinic, where she teaches students how to combine law and politics in the drafting and negotiating of legislation and administrative regulations. Professor Feldblum clerked for First Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Frank M. Coffin in 1985 and for Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun in 1986. As a lawyer for the ACLU AIDS Project from 1988-1990, Professor Feldblum played a leading role in the drafting and negotiating of the Americans with Disabilities Act. She has since worked extensively in advancing gay, lesbian and transgender rights, particularly in the drafting of the Employment Nondiscrimination Act. Beginning in 2002, Professor Feldblum began focusing on workplace flexibility issues. Professor Feldblum continues to engage in scholarly work and practical advocacy in the areas of disability rights, lesbian and gay rights, health and social welfare legislation, and workplace flexibility.
Professor Pillard served as a law clerk to the Honorable Louis H. Pollak of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania before she held the Marvin M. Karpatkin fellowship at the ACLU. Professor Pillard then worked for several years at the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. She joined the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Solicitor General as Assistant to the Solicitor General in 1994 where she served until 1997 when she joined the faculty at Georgetown. In 1998-2000, Professor Pillard took leave from the Law Center to work in the Department of Justice as Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel. She has litigated numerous cases, including more than twenty that she has briefed and eight that she has argued before the Supreme Court.
After graduating from Yale Law School, Professor Cole served as a law clerk to Judge Arlin M. Adams of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Professor Cole then became a staff attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights where he litigated a number of major First Amendment cases, including Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989), United States v. Eichman, 496 U.S. 928 (1990), which established that the First Amendment protects flag burning, and National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley, which challenged the constitutionality of content restrictions on federal art funding. He continues to litigate First Amendment and other constitutional issues as a volunteer staff attorney at the Center. He has published in a variety of areas, including civil rights, criminal justice, constitutional law and law and literature. Professor Cole has received numerous awards for his civil rights and civil liberties work, including from the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of the Freedom of Expression, the American Bar Association’s Individual Rights and Responsibilities Section, the National Lawyers Guild, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the Political Asylum and Immigrants’ Rights Project, the American Muslim Council, and Trial Lawyers for Public Justice.
Professor Pitofsky has had a distinguished career in government and is especially known for his work in the antitrust field. He has served as a commissioner and later chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, the director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection of the FTC, counsel to the American Bar Association Commission to Study the FTC, and chair of a Department of Defense Task Force on downsizing the Defense Industry. In addition, he is co-author of the text, Cases & Materials on Antitrust, and his recent writings include "New Definitions of Relevant Market and the Assault on Antitrust" and "Proposals for Revised Merger Enforcement in a Global Economy." Professor Pitofsky served as Dean of the Law School from 1983 to 1989, and has taught courses at the Law Center in Antitrust, Consumer Protection, Federal Courts, and Constitutional Law. He practices law as counsel to the D.C. firm of Arnold and Porter and was an attorney with Dewey, Ballantine, Bushby, Palmer and Wood. In addition, he served as a member of the Council of the Administrative Conference to the United States and the Board of Governors of the D.C. Bar Association.
Professor Dinh was Assistant Attorney General for Legal Policy at the U.S. Department of Justice from 2001 to 2003. As the official responsible for federal legal policy, he conducted a comprehensive review of Department of Justice priorities, policies and practices after 9/11 and played a key role in developing the USA Patriot Act and revising the Attorney General's Guidelines. Professor Dinh currently serves or has served on the boards of the News Corporation, Liberty's Promise, the American Judicature Society, the Transition Committee for California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the ABA Standing Committee on National Security, and the Section on National Security Law of the Association of American Law Schools. He also served as Associate Special Counsel to the U.S. Senate Whitewater Committee, as Special Counsel to Senator Pete V. Domenici for the Impeachment Trial of President Clinton, and as counsel to the Special Master in In re Austrian and German Bank Holocaust Litigation. After graduating from law school, where he was a Class Marshal and an Olin Research Fellow in Law and Economics, Professor Dinh was a law clerk to Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. His representative publications include ''Defending Liberty: Terrorism and Human Rights'' in the Helsinki Monitor, ''Codetermination and Corporate Governance in a Multinational Business Enterprise'' in the Journal of Corporation Law, and ''Financial Sector Reform and Economic Development in Vietnam'' in Law and Policy in International Business.
Professor Lazarus teaches environmental law, natural resources law, Supreme Court advocacy, and torts. He also serves as the Faculty Director of the Supreme Court Institute. He previously worked for the U.S. Justice Department, in both the Environmental and Natural Resources Division and the Solicitor General's Office, where he was Assistant to the Solicitor General. Professor Lazarus has represented the United States, state and local governments, and public interest groups in the U.S. Supreme Court in approximately 37 cases. His legal scholarship is in the area of environmental and natural resources law. He has most recently published law review articles on environmental legal history, Supreme Court and environmental law, the Fifth Amendment Just Compensation Clause, and environmental justice. Professor Lazarus serves on several national advisory boards, including the Environmental Defense's Litigation Review Committee.
About Georgetown University Law Center
Georgetown University Law Center is one of the world's premier law schools. It has the largest faculty in the nation and is preeminent in several areas, including constitutional, international, tax and clinical law. Drawing on its Jesuit heritage, it has a strong tradition of public service and is dedicated to the principle that law is but a means, justice is the end. With this principle in mind, the Law Center has built an environment that cultivates an exchange of practical ideas and the pursuit of academic excellence. It brings together an extraordinarily varied group of teachers, scholars and practitioners, as well as an outstanding student body.
Twenty-two members of the Georgetown Law full-time faculty have served as U.S. Supreme Court law clerks.
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