UA News

The James E. Rogers College of Law is bringing together a number of prominent judges and attorneys to commemorate Constitution Day in September.

Kenneth W. Starr, former judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, will participate in a panel discussion of major cases decided by the Supreme Court of the United States during the 2008 term.

The discussion is part of The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law's Constitution Day celebration.

Starr, former Solicitor General of the United States, is also the Duane and Kelly Roberts Dean and Professor of Law at the Pepperdine University School of Law.

He will be joined by Judge Neil Wake, U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, UA College of Law Dean Toni Massaro and David Marcus, UA associate professor. Sally Rider, director of the UA's William H. Rehnquist Center on the Constitutional Structures of the Government, will moderate the discussion.

The free public presentation is held in conjunction with a nationwide commemoration of Constitution Day. At the UA, the event is sponsored by the William H. Rehnquist Center at the James E. Rogers College of Law and the William D. Browning Tucson Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.

Cases to be discussed were decided in the Supreme Court’s past term, and include:

• Heller v. D.C. – Second Amendment protects individual right to own a handgun.

• Boumediene v. Bush – Guantanamo detainees have a constitutional right to seek habeas relief in federal court.

• Riegel v. Medtronic – Federal law preempts state law tort claims involving FDA-approved medical devices.

• Crawford v. Marion County Election Bd. – Upholding Indiana's voter-identification law.

Opinions on these cases are available at www.supremecourtus.gov.

The event recognizes Constitution Day, commemorating the day in 1787 that the United States Constitution was approved by the state delegations to the Constitutional Convention and signed by 39 of its framers.

Starr’s visit is sponsored by the William D. Browning Tucson Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, dedicated to the advancement of the science of jurisprudence and to the promotion of the welfare, interests, education and professional development of all attorneys involved in federal legal practice in southern Arizona.

The Rehnquist Center was established at the James E. Rogers College of Law in 2006. The Center is dedicated to encouraging scholarship about, and public understanding of, the separation of powers, the balance of powers between the federal and state governments, and judicial independence.