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University of Oregon School of Law observes Constitution Day on Sept. 17
Holiday will be marked by lecture and podcast about 221-year-old document
EUGENE, Ore. -- (Sept. 12, 2008) -- The University of Oregon School of Law will participate in national observance of Constitution Day on Wednesday, Sept. 17.
To mark the important holiday, the American Constitution Society will host a free, public event from noon to 1 p.m. at the Knight Law Center, Room 142, 1515 Agate St.
Two constitutional law experts will summarize and debate the critical U.S. Supreme Court decisions of the 2007-08 session, as well as facilitate a dynamic discussion of the relationship between law and politics. Mark Graber is the 2008-09 Chair of the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics and a professor of law and government at the University of Maryland School of Law in Baltimore. Ofer Raban is an expert on the First Amendment and joined UO as a professor in 2008.
To extend the Constitution Day activities, the law school's Web site, www.law.uoregon.edu, will feature a podcast of the recent O'Connell Conference, which addressed a host of constitutional law issues.
The one-day conference, "21st Century Challenges to the Judiciary: Judicial Independence, Popular Constitutionalism and Judicial Elections," focused on recent threats to judicial independence in the U.S. and abroad, and the role the public should play in interpreting the Constitution.
The podcast of the Sept. 5 conference gives listeners an opportunity to hear speakers including: Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul J. De Muniz; Stanford Law School Dean Larry Kramer; and Peter Wonacott, senior South Asia correspondent for The Wall Street Journal.
Constitution Day celebrates the ratification of the United States Constitution, which was signed on Sept. 17, 1787. In 2004, Constitution Day became a federal holiday.
About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is a world-class teaching and research institution and Oregon's flagship public university. The UO is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization made up of 62 of the leading public and private research institutions in the United States and Canada. Membership in the AAU is by invitation only. The University of Oregon is one of only two AAU members in the Pacific Northwest.
Contacts: Credence Sol, 541-346-1665, csol@uoregon.edu
Julie Brown, 541-346-3185, julbrown@uoregon.edu
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