Symposium speakers to take new look at Constitution

At a symposium at the UA School of Law, five speakers will examine what the United States Constitution might look like if it was rewritten today.

The symposium, titled Imagining a New Constitution for the United States in the 21st Century, starts today at 9 a.m., and Aaron Latham, spokesman for the UA School of Law, said students are welcome to attend any session that they want.

"It's certainly something that I think will be very appealing to a wide audience," Latham said.

According to the Web site for the symposium, the goal is to look at the Constitution not in the context of how it has evolved, but to focus on how it would look if the framers of the Constitution were to start today with a blank slate.

Among scholars, Latham said, there is a renewed emphasis to contribute to the national conversation about issues such as this.

And by holding the symposiums, he said, it keeps the School of Law at the front of the conversation.

"The [UA] law school is increasingly on the forefront of challenging, changing and defining ideas when it comes to the national issues," Latham said.

The symposium is part of a three-year series. Each symposium in the series looks at different aspects of conventional wisdom to analyze and challenge the ideas

"The idea is to rethink those topics for how we think about them in today's world," Latham said.

While this part of the series focuses on the Constitution, Latham said, the symposium in April will focus on legal doubt, and in October it will focus on sovereignty.

Holding these symposiums also improves the School of Law's national clout because of the focus it gives to these issues, he said.

"For this particular symposium, we have experts from Yale, George Washington, Texas and North Carolina," Latham said.

David Fontana from the George Washington Law School, Sanford Levinson from the University of Texas Law School, William Marshall from the University of North Carolina Law School and Lorraine Weinrib from the University of Toronto Law School will each give a lecture about a particular topic related to a rewritten constitution.

Levinson will give the keynote address, and if students are going to go to any part of the symposium, Latham said they should not miss his address.

Latham said the symposium has already had to be moved to a larger room in the School of Law because of the number of people expected. He said they are excited about the future of the symposia series.

"There has to be a first for everything. There's no limit for where this can lead," Latham said. "It is a launching point for other things in the future."

The symposium will be today from 9 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. in room 188 of the School of Law building. No registration is required.

Schedule for symposium

9:00 - 9:15 Welcome and introduction

9:15 - 10:30 Session I: "Reconceiving the United States Constitution" by Lorraine Weinrib

11:00 - 12:15 Session II: "Recognizing the Values Associated with Minority Dominated Institutions" by Heather Gerken

12:15 - 2:00 Lunch and keynote address "Redesigning the United States Constitution: Is it Desirable? Is it Feasible?" by Sanford Levinson

2:15 - 3:30 Session III: "Recalibrating Checks and Balances: Dividing the Executive" by William Marshall

4:00 - 5:15 Session IV: "Government in Opposition: The New Separation of Powers" by David Fontana

5:30 - 6:15 Reception