Yale Bulletin and Calendar

February 22, 2002

Volume 30, Number 19

Speakers to explore interrelationship of 'Law and Truth'

Judges, academics and lawyers from around the country will gather at the Law School to debate such issues as the ethical problems highlighted by the collapse of Enron and the ability of the jury system to find truth during The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies' 21st annual National Student Symposium.

The event, titled "Law and Truth," will take place Friday and Saturday, March 1 and 2. It will feature speakers from across the ideological spectrum, including Theodore Olson, solicitor general of the United States; Anthony Kronman, dean of Yale Law School; U.S. Court of Appeals judges Guido Calabresi, Dennis Jacobs and John Walker; associate White House counsel Brett Kavanaugh; and professors Richard Epstein of the University of Chicago, Akhil Amar of Yale and Yale Kamisar of the University of Michigan, among many others.

Among the questions they will address are: How important is the search for truth? What should be done if the quest for truth conflicts with the need to safeguard the accused, or other goals of the legal system? How can lawyers representing Enron and other corporate clients balance their responsibility as protectors of the legal system? How effective is the adversarial system at finding the truth?

The Federalist Society was founded at Yale in 1982 as a forum for conservatives and libertarians dedicated to reforming the current legal order. The society is founded on the principles that the state exists to preserve freedom, that the separation of governmental powers is central to the U.S. Constitution, and that it is the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is, not what it should be. The national organization now has more than 5,000 student members in 145 law schools across the country. It also has a division for practicing lawyers with more than 20,000 members and recently established a faculty division.

The symposium will begin on Friday at 7 p.m. with a panel on "Law and Truth: Pre-Modernism, Modernism and Post-Modernism" in the Law School's Levinson Auditorium, 127 Wall St. A reception follows in the Law School dining hall.

On Saturday, panels will be held in the Levinson Auditorium on "Originalism and Historical Truth" and "Truth, the Jury and the Adversarial System," along with a debate on the Exclusionary Rule and a roundtable on "The Lawyer's Responsibility to the Truth." A banquet in University Commons at 7 p.m. will celebrate the founding of the Federalist Society at the Yale Law School 20 years ago.

Registration begins at 2 p.m. on Friday in Rm. 120 of ,the Law School. Student registration is $5 ($25 for those who wish to attend the banquet). Non-student registration is $26 ($55 for those attending the banquet). Members of the media are invited to attend for free.

For more information, call symposium coordinator Michael Yaeger at (203) 432-1887 or send an e-mail to michael.yaeger@yale.edu. Information is also available on the Yale Law School Federalist Society's website at www.yale.edu/federalist. Online registration is available on the national website at www.fed-soc.org/events/studentsymposium.htm.

The conference is funded in part by the Holman Supporting Foundation and the Yale Law School.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Yale architect leading effort to rebuild Twin Tower site

Cellist will tour nation as winner of Sphinx Prize

University awards sailing varsity status

Town-gown project aims to bring health information to underserved

Nurse warns against repeating Tuskegee abuses

Unique program will assess democracy at work

Doing good is good for you, Yale chaplain tells students

Speakers to explore interrelationship of 'Law and Truth'

Exhibition explores ever-expanding art of collage

Fourth annual Klezmerpalooza festival returns home to Yale

Policy Statement: Adding Varsity Opportunities

Yale Books in Brief

Campus Notes