Uncategorized

Was Erie Correctly Decided?

Lily Tran

The ultimate smackdown: Professor Sachs versus Professor Young in “Was Erie Correctly Decided?” Join us for a debate between Professor Sachs and Professor Young moderated by Professor Levy on the age-old question: does federal common law exist and did the Supreme Court make the correct decision in Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins? Sponsored by the Duke Law Federalist Society.

For more information, please contact Meredith Criner at meredith.criner@duke.edu

Log in with this Webinar ID: 925 6431 8333, or this link: https://zoom.us/j/92564318333

Unqualified Immunity? The Challenges of Holding Federal Officials Accountable

Lily Tran

Anya Bidwell, Elfie Gallun Fellow in Freedom and the Constitution and attorney at the Institute for Justice, will explain why it is so difficult to hold federal officials accountable for misconduct.  She will discuss Bivens doctrine, qualified immunity, and how joint state and federal task forces allow local officials to gain the same immunities as federal officials.  This will include discussion of Brownback v. King, a case she is working on which will come before the Supreme Court this November.

Professor Brandon Garrett, Faculty Director of the Wilson Center for Science and Justice, will moderate a discussion following Ms. Bidwell’s remarks.
The panel will feature UCLA Law Professor Joanna Schwartz, a leading expert on qualified immunity, and University of Texas Law Professor Steve Vladeck, a leading expert on federal courts and constitutional law.

Sponsored by the Duke Law Federalist Society.  Co-sponsored by the Criminal Law Society, the Center for Criminal Justice and Professional Responsibility, the Innocence Project, and the Wilson Center for Science and Justice.  For more information, please contact Brendan Clemente at brendan.clemente@duke.edu.

Log in with this Webinar ID: 993 5469 1485, or this link: https://zoom.us/j/99354691485

Judicial Engagement vs. Judicial Restraint

Lily Tran

Join us for a debate on judicial engagement versus judicial restraint.

Director of the Institute for Justice’s Center for Judicial Engagement, Anthony Sanders, will discuss the theory of judicial engagement, while George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law Assistant Professor and Director of the C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State, Adam White, will discuss the theory of judicial restraint. Duke Law Professor Ernest Young will moderate and provide commentary.

Sponsored by the Duke Law Federalist Society.  For more information, please contact Meredith Criner at meredith.criner@duke.edu.

Webinar ID:959 3636 5421

Duke Law Federalist Society Wins 2020 D.O.N.E. Award for Outstanding Contribution to Civic Discourse

Brent McKnight Jr.

Each year, Duke Bar Association gives out the Duke Noteworthy and Outstanding Endeavors (D.O.N.E.) Awards in recognition of students and organizations at the law school. This year, Duke Law Federalist Society was awarded the Outstanding Contribution to Civic Discourse Award, which recognizes the Duke Law organization that made the biggest impact on providing a forum for engaged civil dialogue for students and professors.

In addition to the chapter’s award, FedSoc 3L and past president Michael Wajda won the award for Outstanding Contribution to Duke Law.

The full awards announcement can be found here.

Duke Law’s Professor Stephen Sachs Wins 2020 Joseph Story Award

Brent McKnight Jr.

Professor Stephen Sachs of Duke Law was awarded the 2020 Joseph Story Award by the Federalist Society. The annual award is given to “a young academic (40 and under) who has demonstrated excellence in legal scholarship, a commitment to teaching, a concern for students, and who has made a significant public impact in a manner that advances the rule of law in a free society.”

The award is named for Justice Joseph Story, who became a sitting Supreme Court justice in his thirties, taught at Harvard, and wrote the Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States.

In accepting the award, Professor Sachs explained that he wanted to become a lawyer following his dad’s example. Lawyers can “go into a library, do some research, make an argument — and the hope is, at the end of it, the world would be different.”

To read the full announcement, click here. The full text of the award presentation and a video and text of Professor Sachs’ acceptance, is available here. Congratulations to Professor Sachs!