Judges, scholars and practitioners will focus on constitutional interpretation and re-examine a landmark civil liberties case during a conference Feb. 28 at the University of Virginia School of Law.

“The Future of Originalism: Conflicts and Controversies,” sponsored by the Law School’s Federalist Society chapter, will begin at 9:45 a.m. in Caplin Pavilion. Judge Thomas B. Griffith ’85 of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will introduce the symposium.

The event, which is open to the public, concludes with a re-argument of the Slaughter-House Cases, a Reconstruction-era Supreme Court ruling that narrowed citizenship rights in the privileges or immunities clause of the Constitution.

Plaintiffs in the case, who were butchers, said a Louisiana law that restricted slaughterhouse operations to only one corporation violated both the 13th and 14th amendments. Justices ruled the law constitutional, noting in their decision that the 14th Amendment applied only to former slaves. It did not guarantee that all citizens, regardless of race, should receive equal economic privileges by the state, and any rights guaranteed by the privileges or immunities clause were limited to areas controlled by the federal government, such as access to ports and waterways, the right to run for federal office, and certain rights affecting safety on the seas.

The Law School’s Federalist Society chapter “promotes an awareness and application of the following principles: that the state exists to preserve freedom, that the separation of governmental powers is central to the U.S. Constitution and that it is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is, not what it should be.”

Schedule

Thursday, Feb. 28

Caplin Pavilion

9 a.m.

Breakfast and Registration

9:45 a.m.

Introduction

• Judge Thomas B. Griffith ’85, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
• Introduction: Leslie Kendrick ’06, Vice Dean and David H. Ibbeken ’71 Research Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law

10 a.m.

Panel 1 | The Due Process Clause: Its Original Meaning and Future Application

• Scott Ballenger ’96, Partner, Latham & Watkins
• Randy Barnett, Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Legal Theory, Georgetown University Law Center
• John Harrison, James Madison Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law
• Julia Mahoney, John S. Battle Professor of Law, Class of 1963 Research Professor in Honor of Graham C. Lilly and Peter W. Low, University of Virginia School of Law
• Moderator: Judge Diane S. Sykes, Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
• Introduction: Leslie Kendrick ’06, Vice Dean and David H. Ibbeken ’71 Research Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law

11:30 a.m.

Lunch

Keynote Debate | Judicial Engagement v. Judicial Restraint: Equally Compatible With Originalism?

• Clark Neily, Vice President for Criminal Justice, Cato Institute
• Mark Pulliam, Contributing Editor, Law and Liberty
• Moderator: Lillian BeVier, David and Mary Harrison Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus

1 p.m.

Panel 2 | Originalism Where the Text Runs Out

• Joel Alicea, Cooper & Kirk
• Stephen Sachs, Professor of Law, Duke University School of Law
• Lawrence Solum, Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center
• Moderator: Judge John K. Bush, Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
• Introduction: Paul G. Mahoney, David and Mary Harrison Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law

2:40 p.m.

Finale | Slaughter-House Cases Re-Argument

• Counsel: Dominic Draye, Solicitor General, State of Arizona
• Counsel: Elbert Lin, Partner, Hunton Andrews Kurth
• Judges: Judge Thomas B. Griffith, Judge Diane S. Sykes, Judge John K. Bush
• Introduction: Nicholas Mosvick ’10, Author, Bench Memorandum

4-5 p.m.

Reception