University of Minnesota Law School scholars to present program commemorating Constitution Day

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL ( 9/5/2007 ) --The University of Minnesota Law School, on behalf of the entire University of Minnesota system, will present a program commemorating the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 2007, from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. in Mondale Hall (Law School), 229 19th Ave. S., Minneapolis.

The program will take place at the Law School in Rooms 25 and 50. To view the archived webcast, visit http://www.law.umn.edu/constitutionallaw/conday2007agenda.html

Topics will include:

• An examination of juvenile sentencing and Roper v. Simmons (2005) by Professor Barry Feld, Law School Centennial Professor of Law. While the U.S. Supreme Court held in Roper that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments forbid the imposition of the death penalty on juveniles under the age of 18 when their crimes were committed, it did not strike down sentencing juveniles to life without parole. Professor Feld will discuss the implications of sentencing juveniles to life without parole, and will argue that the same rationale which forbids executing juveniles applies to sentencing juveniles to life without parole. Feld will argue that legislators should take the lead in passing legislation which recognizes youth, inexperience, and diminished judgment as a mitigating factor when sentencing.
   
• An examination of executive privilege, including current controversies and underlying constitutional arguments by Law School Associate Professor Heidi Kitrosser. Professor Kitrosser will assess the constitutional validity of executive privilege, focusing on executive privilege disputes between Congress and the President or other high-ranking executive branch officers. She will discuss clashes over information sought directly by Congress, clashes over information sought by individuals through congressionally drawn public access statutes, and clashes over information sought by congressionally created agencies.
   
• An examination of the limits of the constitutional law of equality by Law School Professor of Law, and Vance K. Opperman Research Scholar, Jill Hasday. Professor Hasday will discuss how the Court’s narrow definition of equal protection shapes notions of equality and limits understandings of equality.
   

A webcast will connect the East Bank, the St. Paul campus, and the University’s campuses in Crookston, Duluth, Morris and Rochester with this event. In addition, students, alumni, employees and friends of the University of Minnesota system will be able to view the presentation on their own computers.

The Law School has applied for 1.0 continuing legal education credit, which will be available to attendees as well as remote viewers.

To view the full Constitution Day agenda, visit http://www.law.umn.edu/constitutionallaw/conday2007agenda.html