Dear Colleagues:

Greetings, and Happy Academic New Year! As the Fall Semester begins, the Friday Public Affairs Lunch discussions return on September 2. I’m pleased to begin with the traditional pre- Labor Day program on the Supreme Court.

I’m especially pleased that Professors Adler and Entin can continue to participate. The one difference this year is, Professor Entin has now retired, and will be contributing as David L. Brennan Professor Emeritus of Law and Adjunct Professor of Political Science. It is a great relief to know that, while he will now be able to avoid lots of committee meetings, Professor Entin will still be around campus and even teaching some. He has been a great friend to the political science department, policy studies, and public affairs programming for many years. And I am also very grateful that Professor Adler, who must be one of the most active members of our faculty in national policy debates, continues to join our gatherings.

The Supreme Court’s new term begins on the First Monday in October. Before it begins, two of our distinguished scholars of constitutional law will look back and forward. For both terms perhaps the biggest story is not a case but a vacancy: how Justice Scalia’s death and the Senate’s refusal to consider a replacement has shaped and will shape decisions. The judicial policy stakes in the November election may be extremely high. As we await that result, we ask what is most important from last term’s decisions on issues such as contraceptive coverage under the Affordable Care Act; consideration of race in admissions to the University of Texas; the Court’s rejection of “safety” regulations on abortion clinics in Texas; and the tie vote that upheld lower courts’ rejections of President Obama’s Deferred Action for Parents of Americans immigration program. What upcoming cases might be especially important, and how might they be decided? Cases on racial gerrymandering of state legislative districts and public payments to religious schools are already on the docket; the major tie votes could return; and more executive power cases may be on the way. Our expert speakers’ knowledge and different perspectives ensure that this discussion every year is filled with both information and insight.

All best regards,
Joe White
Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Policy Studies 

About Our Guests

Jonathan Adler is the author or editor of four books on environmental policy and over a dozen book chapters. His articles have appeared in publications ranging from the Harvard Environmental Law Review and Supreme Court Economic Review to The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. Professor Adler is a Senior Fellow at the Property & Environment Research Center in Bozeman, Montana, a contributing editor to National Review Online and a regular contributor to the popular legal blog, “The Volokh Conspiracy” (http://volokh.com). A 2007 study identified Professor Adler as the most cited legal academic in environmental law under age 40. Among his recent works is A Conspiracy Against Obamacare: The Volokh Conspiracy and the Health Care Case, with Randy E. Barnett, David E. Bernstein, and Orin S. Kerr (Palgrave MacMillan, 2013).

Jonathan Entin has taught Constitutional Law; Administrative Law; Courts, Public Policy and Social Change; and a Supreme Court Seminar. Before joining the faculty in 1984, he clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (when she was on the U.S. Court of Appeals) and practiced in Washington with Steptoe & Johnson. The recipient of several teaching awards and a former co-editor of the Journal of Legal Education, he is at work on a book about equal protection. Among his recent publications are “Getting What You Pay For: Judicial Compensation and Judicial Independence,” Utah Law Review (2011) and “Responding to Political Corruption: Some Institutional Considerations,” Loyola University Chicago Law Journal (2011).

Where We Meet

The Friday Public Affairs Lunch convenes each Friday when classes are in session, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Our programs are open to all and no registration is required. We usually meet in the Dampeer Room of Kelvin Smith Library. The Dampeer Room is on the second floor of the library. If you get off the elevators, turn right, pass the first bank of tables, and turn right again. Occasionally we need to use a different room; that will always be announced in the weekly e-mails.

Parking Possibilities

The most convenient parking is the lot underneath Severance Hall. We regret that it is not free. From that lot there is an elevator up to street level (labeled as for the Thwing Center); it is less than 50 yards from that exit to the library entrance. You can get from the Severance garage to the library without going outside. Near the entry gates – just to the right if you were driving out – there is a door into a corridor. Walk down the corridor and there will be another door. Beyond that door you’ll find the entrance to an elevator which goes up to an entrance right inside the doors to Kelvin Smith Library.

Schedule of Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:

September 9: The Zika Virus: Threat and Responses. With Ronald Blanton M.D./M.Sc., Professor of International Health. Alternate Location: Guilford House Parlor, 11112 Bellflower Road.

September 16: The Chinese Business System. With Steven Feldman, Professor of Design and Innovation, Weatherhead School of Management.

September 23: Living Black: Social Life in an African-American Neighborhood.. With Mark S. Fleisher, Research Professor, Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences.

September 30: What Next for the British Labour Party? With Luke Reader Ph.D., SAGES Lecturer.

October 7: The Lake Erie Wind Farm and the Future of Wind Energy. With David Matthiesen, Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Director, Wind Energy Research and Commercialization Center.

October 14: Macroeconomic Challenges for the Next Administration. With Mark S. Sniderman, Executive in Residence and Adjunct Professor of Economics, Weatherhead School of Management, and former Research Director, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Alternate Location: Mather House Room 100.

October 21: The DARPA Robotics Challenge and the Future of Robotics. With Wyatt S. Newman, Professor of Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering.

October 28: Politics, Economics, and International Trade. With Joe White, Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy.

November 4: Biennial Political Science Department Pre-Election Forecast Discussion.

November 11: The Unrealized Promise of Libertarianism. With Gus Dizerega Ph.D., independent political theorist.

November 18: Can Democracy Meet the Challenge of Polarization? With Mark Chupp, Assistant Professor, Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Social Sciences.

November 25: Thanksgiving Break.

December 2: Putin’s Russia. With Kelly M. McMann, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director, International Studies Program.

December 9: Health Care Report Cards – Time for Second Thoughts? With J.B. Silvers, John R. Mannix Medical Mutual of Ohio Professor of Health Care Finance.