The 13th annual John P. Frank Memorial Lecture at ASU will be held Monday, February 20, 2012 at 7 p.m. in Neeb Hall. The event will feature Erwin Chemerinsky, Founding Dean and Distinguished Professor of Law in the School of Law at the University of California, Irvine.
His remarks will be focused on the use of "states' rights" arguments against progressive social change, in a talk entitled "States' Rights in the 21st Century: Immigration, Health Care and Gay Marriage."
"Some of the most contentious social and constitutional issues today -- the constitutionality of Arizona's SB 1070, of the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act, and of prohibitions of marriage equality for gays and lesbians -- are ultimately being fought over as issues of federalism. This is not unusual for the United States," writes Chemerinsky.
"Throughout American history, crucial questions have been argued over in terms of states' rights. This is because federalism arguments give opponents of progressive change a way to challenge it while not arguing the merits. But these challenges should be no more persuasive today than they were in opposing the abolition of slavery, the New Deal, or the end of segregation."
A graduate of Harvard Law School, Chemerinsky served on the law faculties at DePaul, USC, and Duke before joining the University of California, Irvine School of Law in 2008—with the titles of Founding Dean and Distinguished Professor of Law and a determination to build from the ground up a law curriculum for the 21st century.
Chemerinsky holds expertise in Constitutional law, federal practice, civil rights and civil liberties, and appellate litigation. He has authored seven books, most recently The Conservative Assault on the Constitution (Simon & a.m.p; Schuster, 2010), and nearly 200 law review articles. In addition, Professor Chemerinsky writes regular columns for California Lawyer, Los Angeles Daily Journal andTrial Magazine, and is a frequent contributor to and commentator on legal issues for national and local media.
He regularly argues criminal and civil appellate cases pro bono in the Supreme Court, federal courts of appeals, and state supreme courts. In his early career Chemerinsky served as a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Washington firm of Dobrovir, Oakes & a.m.p; Gebhardt.
The lecture is free and open to the public but seating is limited. Call 480-965-7682 for additional information about fundraising events for the John P. Frank Endowed Lecture Series that will surround Dean Chemerinsky's visit.
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