• 2019 Symposium

The Independence of the American Judicial System

Politics and Separation of Powers

Friday, February 8
Stanford Law School, Room 290

12:45 – 2:00 P.M.
Keynote Lunch Presentation
Judge Patricia Millett
United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

2:15 – 3:45 P.M.
Judicial Independence and Criminal Law: The Influence of Judicial Elections and Lifetime Appointments

3:45 – 4:00 P.M.
Coffee Break

4:00 – 5:30 P.M.
Nomination and Confirmation: Consequences for the Independence, Polarization, and Diversity of the Federal Judiciary

6:30 – 7:15 P.M.
Cocktail Reception

7:15 – 9:30 P.M.
Keynote Dinner Address
Stephen B. Burbank
David Berger Professor for the Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania Law School
Located at Stanford Faculty Club. Registration required and limited to the Stanford Law School community.

Saturday, February 9
Stanford Law School, Room 290

9:00 – 9:30 A.M.
Breakfast Available

9:30 – 11:00 A.M.
The Least Dangerous Branch?: How Judges and Lawyers Handle Controversial Political Issues

11:15 A.M. – 12:45 P.M.
What Does It Mean to Have an “Independent Judiciary?”: Institutional Legitimacy and Clashes with Coordinate Branches

Participants include:
Nan Aron, President, Alliance for Justice
Samuel Bagenstos, Professor, University of Michigan Law School
Alicia Bannon, Deputy Director for Program Management, Brennan Center for Justice
Stephen B. Burbank, Professor, University of Pennsylvania Law School
Linda Greenhouse, Lecturer, Yale Law School, and Contributing Columnist, New York Times
Aziz Z. Huq, Professor, University of Chicago Law School
Ketanji Brown Jackson, United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
Michael S. Kang, Professor, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law
Leondra R. Kruger, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California
Kiyo Matsumoto, United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
Bridget Mary McCormack, Chief Justice of the Michigan State Supreme Court
Patricia Millett, United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
Erin E. Murphy, Partner, Kirkland & Ellis
Jed S. Rakoff, United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Ilya Shapiro, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute
Donald B. Verrilli, Jr., Partner, Munger, Tolles & Olson
Benjamin Wagner, Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
Albert Yoon, Professor, University of Toronto Faculty of Law

Register here.

For more information contact Symposium Editors Zachary Krowitz (zkrowitz@stanford.edu) and David Steinbach (dswstein@stanford.edu).

Symposium Sponsored by:

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Past Symposia