Home | Print

Renowned constitutional law scholar to speak about Florida Supreme Court and 2000 election

by Scott Emerson
Senior Writer

One of the leading legal thinkers of our time, Yale law professor Akhil Reed Amar, will speak on “Bush, Gore, Florida and the Constitution” on March 24 at the Levin College of Law as the Dunwody Distinguished Lecturer in Law. As President Bush’s term ends, Amar will discuss the case that began the Bush years and will also talk about the role of the Florida Supreme Court in the case.

Professor Amar is the Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale. His work has been cited more than 20 times by the U.S. Supreme Court; he has also been mentioned on the popular TV show The West Wing, to which he was a consultant. Amar served as editor of the Yale Law Review and clerked in the First Circuit for then-Judge Stephen Breyer. He has authored five books, including America’s Constitution: A Biography and The Bill of Rights: Creation and Reconstruction. His work has been honored by many groups, including the Federalist Society.

“Professor Amar is one of our nation’s leading constitutional scholars and his Dunwody lecture will be a stimulating and informative discussion for all,” said Florida Supreme Court Justice Charles T. Canady, a friend and fellow Yale Law School graduate who plans to attend the Dunwody lecture.

Amar’s constitutional law course at Yale is one of the most popular undergraduate classes at campus. “Professor Amar is a brilliant, engaging and entertaining lecturer,” said Peggy Hunt, a third-year UF law student and former student of Amar’s. “His constitutional law class was one of my favorite courses at Yale.”

The public is invited to attend the lecture, hosted by the Florida Law Review, at 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 24, at the UF College of Law campus in the Chesterfield Smith Ceremonial Classroom (Holland 180) or via webcast at www.video.ufl.edu.

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Florida Law Review, the college will webcast the Dunwody Lecture in Law for the first time on the World Wide Web.

“The fact that UF alumni and students and faculty from colleges around the world can join in the celebration makes this Dunwody Lecture very special,” said Larry Dougherty, editor-in-chief of the Florida Law Review.

The Dunwody Lecture Series was established by U.S. Sugar Corporation and the law firms of Dunwody, White, & Landon, P.A. and Mershon, Sawyer, Johnston, Dunwody and Cole in honor of UF law graduates Elliot and Atwood Dunwody. The honorees were brothers who dedicated their lives to the legal profession and who set a standard of excellence for The Florida Bar.

For more information on the March 24 event, webcast, Dunwody Lecture series or the Florida Law Review, visit www.floridalawreview.com.