Philip A. Hart Memorial Lecture
The Philip A. Hart Memorial Lectureship was established at Georgetown Law by the family and friends of Philip A. Hart, a distinguished U.S. Senator and alumnus of Georgetown University.
Senator Hart was known as the “Conscience of the Senate” for his leadership in several important areas in which he stood by his convictions even when it risked his own political career.
Hart led efforts to promote integration and busing, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965—for which he was a floor manager—championed the end of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, and defended the average worker against big business interests.
A member of the “Greatest Generation,” Hart suffered injuries during the D-Day invasion in Normandy, France, and was awarded a Purple Heart among other honors for his distinguished service.
Each year, a prominent scholar or professional is invited to deliver a lecture at Georgetown Law on topics that were dear to Senator Hart in an effort to honor the “Conscience of the Senate” and to promote the principles with which he served.
Previous Presenters
2025
Deborah Archer
Dividing Lines and the Infrastructure of Inequality
2019
The Honorable Mayor Muriel Bowser
The Opening Argument for DC Statehood
2018
James Forman, Jr.
Locking Up Our Own: Race, Class, and the Politics of Mass Incarceration
2017
Sally Yates
Criminal Justice Reform: How We Got Here, Why We Need it, and The Path Forward
2016
Evan Wolfson
The Freedom to Marry Win: Transformation and Triumph to Celebrate, Lessons to Adapt and Apply
2016
Jack Rakove
The Superior Virtues of Historical Originalism
2014
Former U.S. Senator James H. (Jim) Webb
The National Criminal Justice Commission Act – A Microcosm of Congressional Paralysis
2013
Pauline Maier
The Strange History of the Bill of Rights
2012
Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke
A Journey from the Heart of Apartheid Darkness Towards a Just Society: Salient Features of the Budding Constitutionalism and Jurisprudence of South Africa
2011
Michael Klarman
Courts, Social Change, and Political Backlash
2010
Jeremy Waldron
Constitutionalism: A Skeptical View
2009
The Honourable Michael Kirby AC CMG
Constitutional Law and International Law: National Exceptionalism and the Democratic Deficit?
2008
The Honorable Richard Goldstone
The Future of International Criminal Justice
2007
Aharon Barak
Human Rights in Time of Terror: A Judicial Point of View
2006
Ian Ayres
The Refund Booth: Using the Principle of Symmetric Information to Improve Campaign Finance Regulation
2005
Robert C. Post
The Structure of Academic Freedom
2004
The Honorable Guido Calabresi
Equality in the American Constitution
2003
Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot
Will Anybody Know Who I am? On Education, Justice, and Respect
2002
Lawrence Lessig
The Internet’s Coming Silent Spring
2001
William Julius Wilson
Welfare, Children and Families: The Impact of Welfare Reform in the New Economy
2000
Gerald Torres
Critical Race Theory: Race as a Site of Political Resistance and Struggle
1999
Kathleen M. Sullivan
Reflections on Impeachment
1998
Stephen L. Carter
Religion-Centered Free Exercise: A Tribute to Justice Brennan*
*The lecture was co-sponsored by the Brennan Center for Justice as part of its 1998 Symposium on Constitutional Law
1997
Bruce A. Ackerman
Movements, Parties, and the Presidency
Susan Rose-Ackerman
The World Bank’s Role in Controlling Corruption
1996
I. Michael Heyman
Do Curators Have Anything to Learn from Lawyers?
1995
Legal Ethics Symposium
Legal Ethics for the 21st Century
1994
Elaine Scarry
Thinking in an Emergency
1993
Ronald Dworkin
Life’s Dominion: An Argument About Abortion and Euthanasia
1992
Frederick Schauer
Two Cheers for Authority: Should Officials Obey the Law?
1991
Hendrik A. Hartog
Meanings of Marriage: The Structure of Marital Expectations in Nineteenth Century America
1990
Jean Blondel, Ph.D.
Government, Political Parties, and Liberal Democracy in New Europe
1989
Alan B. Morrison, Esquire
A ‘Non-Power’ Look at Separation of Powers
1988
Yale Kamisar
Some Call It ‘The Right to Die’
1987
Judith Jarvis Thompson
The Decline of Cause
1986
John Kaplan
Does the Criminal Law Have Much to Do with Crime?
1985
Norman Dorsen
Nativity Scenes and Judicial Responsibility
1984
Albert M. Sacks
The Training of Lawyers: From Bar Exam Passage to Full Lawyer Proficiency
1983
Boris I. Bittker
Why Is the Federal Income Tax so Complicated?
1982
Carl McGowan
Federalism–Old and New–and the Federal Courts
1980
Wade H. McCree
The Role of the Solicitor General in Shaping Issues for the Supreme Court