Schedule of Events

Friday, September 10, 2021

 

Greenroom with Students

Brief Description:  Available panelists will meet with registered W&M students to talk about their lives in the law and advice they wish they had been given when in law school.

2:30pm
Welcome

4:00pm
Moot Court
New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Corlett (Second Amendment)

Brief Description: The Supreme Court will decide this Term whether the Second Amendment protects the right to carry a gun outside the home.   At issue in the case that will be mooted is a New York law that requires a person who wants to carry a concealed firearm outside the home to show “proper cause” – meaning a special need for self-protection. Two men challenged the law after New York rejected their concealed-carry applications. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit upheld the law.

  • Advocates: Tiffany Wright & Meaghan VerGow
  • Justices: Joan Biskupic (Chief Justice), Pamela Harris, Stephanos Bibas, Patricia Millett, Kevin Newsom, Pratik Shah, Jess Bravin, Greg Stohr, Timothy Zick

 

 

 

 

4:05pm 

 

 

 

 
The 2021 Term and Stare Decisis: 
The future of Roe, Grutter, and more

Brief Description:  One of the biggest cases the Court has agreed to hear this Term is Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case in which Mississippi has explicitly asked the Court to overrule Roe v. Wade.  This panel will discuss Dobbs in connection with speculation on the Court’s inclination to overruling precedent generally, which may well include an invitation later in the Term to overrule the case permitting race-based affirmative action.

  • Moderator: Adam Liptak
  • Panelists: Walter Dellinger, Melissa Murray, Kannon Shanmugam, Beth Brinkmann

 

 

 

5:30pm 

 

 

 
Saturday, September 11, 2021

 

 
Election Law Beyond 2020

Brief Description: Although the Court does not yet have election disputes on the 2021-2022 docket, there is the potential for a lot of election law activity at the Court.  Redistricting will be in full swing, there is fallout from the Court’s recent Voting Rights Act decision, and important campaign finance / disclosure questions lingering, all of which may require the Court’s attention.  This panel will address what is likely coming down the pipeline in terms of election controversies.

  • Moderator: Rebecca Green
  • Panelists: David Savage, Paul Smith, Erin Murphy, Pam Karlan 

 9:00am
The Next Wave of Civil Liberties Controversies: state secrets, free speech, and more

Brief Description: This panel will discuss the state secrets cases, several free speech cases on the docket and (time permitting) will also opine on the abortion and Second Amendment cases discussed Friday night.

  • Moderator: Jess Bravin
  • Panelists: Andy Pincus, Beth Brinkmann, Jeffrey Fisher

 10:00am
What to Expect from the Criminal Law Docket and lingering questions on Qualified Immunity?

Brief Description: The Court has already granted a handful of cases that can be loosely grouped under the umbrella of criminal law including the high-profile case about the Boston marathon bombing.  This panel will discuss those cases in addition to exploring potential changes to the much-discussed qualified immunity doctrine which shields government officials (including police officers) from liability for their actions.  

  • Moderator: Katherine Mims Crocker
  • Panelists: Jeff Fisher, Erwin Chemerinsky, Andy Pincus

 11:15am
Lunch Break 

12:15pm
Breakout Lunch Sessions (3 choices): 
  • What will come from the Bipartisan Commission on Supreme Court Reform?

    • Moderator: Bob Barnes

    • Panelists: Erwin Chemerinsky, Joan Biskupic, Erin Murphy

  • What will be the role of the Biden Solicitor General and what’s in store for the shadow docket?

    • Moderator: Martina Stewart

    • Panelists:  Stephen Vladeck, Jeff Wall, Beth Brinkmann 

  • Judging in a pandemic and fraught election year – what we learned about the judiciary in 2020?

    • Moderator: Neal Devins

    • Panelists: Stephanos Bibas, Pamela Harris, Patricia Millett, Kevin Newsom

1:00pm 
Are “we all textualists now?” A look at the business cases and statutory interpretation puzzles on the docket

Brief Description: Justice Kagan famously quipped that “we are all textualists now” and statutory interpretation has certainly become part of the Court’s bread and butter.  This term the Court has granted several cases involving questions of statutory interpretation many involving business interests. This panel will preview those cases and also speculate on whether the Roberts Court can be fairly labeled pro-business and / or pro-textualism.

  • Moderator: Aaron Bruhl
  • Panelists: Jeff Wall, Pratik Shah, Kannon Shanmugam

2:00pm 
Challenges Under the Religion Clauses

Brief Description: The Court will hear a case from Maine this Term about tuition assistance to sectarian schools.  In addition to that case, this panel will discuss other Free Exercise / Establishment Clause cases coming to the Court including potentially more COVID restriction cases, with an eye towards the fallout after the June 2021 decision in Fulton v. Philadelphia.

  • Moderator: Greg Stohr
  • Panelists: Paul Smith, Pamela Karlan, Adam Liptak, Erwin Chemerinsky

 3:15pm
Concluding Remarks

4:15pm