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By Phil Williams
phil@franklin.uga.edu
State and federal courts are a part of everyday life in the United States, and their actions can be quite consequential. If you don’t believe it, just ask the people of Florida.
From district courts to the U.S. Supreme Court, the presidential election bounced across state lines like a pinball, finally ending with a 5-4 decision that some saw as just and others believed was political.
“Federalism and the Courts” is the topic of a national conference Feb. 23-24 in the Georgia Center for Continuing Education. Seating is limited at this “state-of-the-art conference.”
“There have been pronounced and dramatic changes in the relationship between federal and state courts over the past century,” says Susette Talarico, professor of political science and director of the Criminal Justice Studies program at UGA. “The current decisions of the Rehnquist Court evoke an earlier period in American history, relying on more stark conceptions of federalism that have helped to stimulate debates in both law and social science. We think a conference on these issues is especially appropriate at this time.”
On the evening on Feb. 24 the keynote speech for the conference will be given by Michael Solimine, a professor at the University of Cincinnati Law School and co-author of Respecting State Courts: The Inevitability of Judicial Federalism.
Speaker for the closing session on the following day will be Malcolm Feely of the School of Law at the University of California at Berkeley. An internationally recognized expert on courts and the law, he will speak on federalism in the 21st century.
A number of national experts, including two from UGA, will present papers and participate in three panel discussions over the two-day period. Topics include: The U.S. Supreme Court’s new federalism; federal-state court interactions; and perspectives on federalism and the courts. UGA participants include J. Randy Beck and Peter Appel from the School of Law.
Organized by political science faculty Susan Haire, Stefanie Lindquist, John Maltese, Jeffrey Yates and Talarico, the conference is funded by the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, the UGA Law School, the political science department and the President’s Venture Fund.
Public seating for the conference is extremely limited. Telephone Talarico at 542-2057 for information and to reserve a seat. |
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