The Rule of Law: Controlling Government

Seminar in Contemporary Legal Thought

Guest Speakers

Fall 2011

Professor James Buchanan

On September 26, Professor James Buchanan will be a guest speaker for the class on The Theory of Government Failure. Professor Buchanan received the Nobel Prize for economics in 1986. He is best known for developing "public choice theory," which changed the way economists analyze political decision making. Professor Buchanan's work opened the door for the examination of how politicians' self-interest and non-economic forces affect government policy. Center for Study of Public Choice.

Professor John Harrison

On October 31 Professor Harrison will guest lecture on theories of constitutional interpretation. John C. Harrison joined the UVA Law School faculty in 1993 as an associate professor of law after a distinguished career with the U.S. Department of Justice. His teaching subjects include Constitutional History, Federal Courts, Remedies, Corporations, Civil Procedure, Legislation, and Property. During 2008 he was on leave to serve as counselor on international law in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State. A 1977 graduate of the University of Virginia, Harrison earned his law degree in 1980 at Yale. He was an associate at Patton Boggs & Blow in Washington, D.C., and clerked for the Honorable Robert Bork on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He worked with the Department of Justice from 1983-93, serving in numerous capacities, including deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel (1990-93).

Professor A.E. Dick Howard

On November 7 Professor Howard will guest lecture on global constitutionalism and the rule of law. Widely acknowledged as an expert in the fields of constitutional law, comparative constitutionalism, and the Supreme Court, A. E. Dick Howard is the White Burkett Miller Professor of Law and Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. Professor Howard is the author of a number of books, articles, and monographs. These include The Road from Runnymede: Magna Carta and Constitutionalism in America and Commentaries on the Constitution of Virginia, which won a Phi Beta Kappa prize. More recent works include Democracy's Dawn and Constitution-making in Eastern Europe. In January 1994, Washingtonian magazine named Professor Howard as one of the most respected educators in the nation. In 2007, the Richmond Times-Dispatch and the Library of Virginia included Professor Howard on their list of the "greatest Virginians" of the 20th century

Mr. Chris Edwards

On November 14 Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute will lecture on the problems of the national debt. Mr. Edwards is the director of tax policy studies at Cato and editor of www.DownsizingGovernment.org. He is a top expert on federal and state tax and budget issues. Before joining Cato, Edwards was a senior economist on the congressional Joint Economic Committee, a manager with PricewaterhouseCoopers, and an economist with the Tax Foundation. Edwards has testified to Congress on fiscal issues many times, and his articles on tax and budget policies have appeared in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and other major newspapers. He is the author of Downsizing the Federal Government and co-author of Global Tax Revolution. Edwards holds a B.A. and M.A. in economics, and he was a member of the Fiscal Future Commission of the National Academy of Sciences.

Professor Bradley A. Smith

On November 21 Bradley A. Smith will speak on campaign finance reform. Bradley A. Smith holds the Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault Designated Professor of Law position at Capital University Law School.  A 2010 recipient of the Bradley Prize, he is one of the nation’s leading authorities on election law and campaign finance. In 2000, he was nominated by President Clinton to fill a Republican-designated seat on the Federal Election Commission, where he served for five years, including serving as Chairman of the Commission in 2004. Professor Smith has been on the Capital University Law School faculty since 1993. He also has taught law at George Mason University in Virginia.

The Innocence Project

On November 28, Ms. Shawn Armbrust, Executive Director of the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project, has been invited to be the featured speaker. Topic: policing the criminal justice system. Ms. Armbrust has extensive experience in the innocence community. From 1999 to 2001, Shawn was the case coordinator at the Center on Wrongful Convictions at the Northwestern University School of Law, screening requests for counsel and coordinating public education events and development efforts. Through the Center, she also worked with the Commission appointed by former Illinois Governor George Ryan, who stayed and ultimately commuted all capital sentences in the state. She is an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown Law, is a member of the National Committee on the Right to Counsel, and is on the board of directors of the Innocence Network. http://www.exonerate.org/~~http://www.innocenceproject.org/

Mr. Peter Ferrara

On December 5, Mr. Peter Ferrara will address the class on Social Security reform and health care reform. Peter Ferrara is Director of the International Center for Law and Economics and President of the Virginia Club for Growth. He served as a senior staff member in the White House Office of Policy Development under President Reagan and as Associate Deputy Attorney General of the United States under the first President Bush. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, and has practiced law with firms on Wall Street and in Washington, DC. Bio & link to Institute for Policy Innovation.