Upcoming Events: Celebrating Lewis Powell

September 19, 2007 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell, and Washington and Lee University (his alma mater) will celebrate this milestone with a symposium and two lectures exploring Justice Powell’s judicial legacy. All of these events are free and open to the public.

Events include a symposium on Monday, September 17; a lecture by Linda Greenhouse on Wednesday, September 19; and a lecture by Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III on Friday, September 21. More details can be found after the jump or at http://law.wlu.edu/powell.

On Monday, September 17 beginning at 8:45 am, the Washington and Lee School of Law will host a symposium, sponsored by the Lewis Law Center, examining how Justice Powell’s concurrence in Branzburg v. Hayes continues to inform the issue of reportorial privilege. Justice Powell’s opinion eschewed all-or-nothing alternatives, and as was evidenced during the Valerie Plame leak investigation, the relationship between a journalist and his or her source continues to be one of the most contested issues in modern mass media law.

Participating in the symposium are:

· Kathleen Sullivan, Professor of Law, Stanford University

· Mike Allen, Columnist for The Politico and TIME Magazine

· David Westin, President of ABC News

· James B. Comey, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Lockheed Martin and former Deputy Attorney General, whose recent congressional testimony about a meeting in John Ashcroft’s hospital room set off shock waves in Washington.

· Chuck Rosenberg, Unites States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia

· Rodney A. Smolla, Dean of the W&L School of law

· Dayo Abah, Professor of Journalism, Washington and Lee.

Then, on Wednesday, September 19 at 10:00 am, the School of Law will host a lecture by New York Times Supreme Court reporter Linda Greenhouse. Ms. Greenhouse will discuss how Justice Powell might rule on today’s immigration issues based on his opinion in Plyler v. Doe, a case that affirmed the right of undocumented children to a free public education.

Finally, on Friday, September 21 at 1:30 pm, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit will deliver the 5th annual Powell Lecture in Lee Chapel. Remarking on the chief characteristics of Justice Powell’s jurisprudence in his essay, “The Powellian Virtues in a Polarized Age”, Judge Wilkinson, who served as Justice Powell’s first law clerk, noted that Powell “treated legal principles not as hard and fast rules but rather, as presumptions that could be rebutted in an appropriate case.”