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LEADING LAW EXPERTS--ALL OBERLIN COLLEGE GRADUATES--RETURN TO CAMPUS FOR A NATIONAL CONFERENCE TITLED "LAW AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN THE 21st CENTURY"

OCTOBER 29, 2003—More than 50 of the country’s most distinguished lawyers, law professors, social scientists, judges, and activists—all Oberlin College graduates—will convene at Oberlin College next month for a national conference titled "Law and Social Change in the 21st Century."

The conference will open Friday, November 14, with registration at 4 p.m. and will continue through Sunday, November 16. The schedule includes two major speeches, eight discussion panels, a law careers workshop, and a faculty symposium.

"Affirmative Action: Grutter and Beyond" is the title of the keynote address to be presented Friday evening by Richard Lempert ’64. Lempert drafted the University of Michigan’s highly publicized affirmative action admissions policy, which was upheld this summer by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Lempert is the Eric Stein Distinguished University Professor of Law and Sociology at the University of Michigan, on leave as division director for the Social and Economic Sciences at the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C.

"The conference is intended for both lawyers and non-lawyers alike," says Ronald Kahn, Oberlin's James Monroe Professor of Politics and law conference director. "Each of the panels promises lively debate and discussion of the more controversial legal and social issues that affect all Americans."

Panel Discussion Topics and Noted Participants:

"Women, Gender, and Family Rights"

Nationally recognized experts and advocates for women and family rights will explore the following topics: spousal abuse and domestic violence, rights of privacy and child custody, the definition of what constitutes a "family" under law, reproductive freedom and family choice, and the rights of gay men and lesbians under family law today and in the future.

• Louise K. Melling '82 - Director, Reproductive Freedom Project, American Civil Liberties Union, New York City.

"Tort Reform and Your Right to a Day in Court: Class Action Suits and the Capping of Damage Awards"

Leading trial and class action lawyers and experts explore whether damage awards should be capped by the government or should result from one’s day in court and whether there should be limits on the use of class action remedy to seek redress for large classes of individuals who have been wronged by corporations and other large institutions.

• Patricia A. McCoy '76—Professor of Law, University of Connecticut School of Law, Hartford, Connecticut;
• Michael H. Barr '77—Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal, New York City; and
• Joel S. Feldman '74—Sidley Austin Brown & Wood, Chicago, Illinois.

"Affirmative Action"

Leading scholars of affirmative action and the central figures in the 2003 Supreme Court affirmative action case brought against the University of Michigan will discuss that case and affirmative action as a policy for entry into higher education.

• Thomas M. Keck '92—Assistant Professor of Political Science, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York; and
• Cedric M. Powell '84—Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor, University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, Louisville, Kentucky.

"The Internet, the Recording Industry, Broadcast Media and Intellectual Property: Napster and the New York Yankees"

Experts on intellectual property and entertainment executives discuss copyright infringement, the Internet, and the "right to speak and listen" in the Napster case. They will also examine the clash between property rights and citizen access to New York Yankee broadcasts on cable television.

• Michael A. Santoro '76—Associate Professor, Graduate School of Business, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey;
• Robert S. Lemle '75—Consultant and former Vice President and General Counsel, CablevisionSystems Corporation, New York City; and
• Valerie R. Marcus '84—Vice President, Business and Legal Affairs, RCA Group, New York City.

"Capital Punishment"

Chief counsels of state capital defense units, scholars, and litigators explore the constitutionality and morality of the death penalty and the likelihood that its use, as applied, will continue in the future.

• Timothy V. Kaufman-Osborn '76—Baker Ferguson Professor of Politics and Leadership, Department of Politics, Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington;
• Michael C. Meltsner '57—Visiting Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, and George J. & Kathleen Waters Matthews Distinguished Professor of Law, Northeastern University School of Law, Boston, Massachcusetts; and

• Gregory W. Meyers '80—Chief Counsel, Death Penalty Division, Office of Ohio Public Defender, Columbus, Ohio.

"Environmental Law"

Nationally recognized scholars and practitioners explore new developments in environmental law and the possibilities for change through law and political action. Topics include: conservation stewardship in public lands; mediating local environmental disputes; environmental regulations; contracts, and risks; spotted owls and the protection of old-growth forests; and toxic risks, government actions, and constitutional rights.

• Karen Florini '79—Senior Attorney, Environmental Health Program, Environmental Defense, Washington, D.C.;
• Christopher S. Elmendorf '94—Assistant Professor, University of California at Davis School of Law, Davis, California; and
• Eric W. Orts '82—Guardsmark Endowed Professor of Legal Studies and Management, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

"The Supreme Court and Appellate Courts in Contemporary Society"

Former law clerks to Supreme Court justices, a state supreme court justice, scholars of the Supreme Court and lesser federal courts, and a leading advocate in the Supreme Court appointment process explore the impact of the Supreme Court and lesser federal courts on social and political change and how court decision-making and politics inform such change.

• Nancy Aron '70—President, The Alliance for Justice, Washington, D.C. and
• Nancy E. Crowe '91—Frieda L. Miller Fellow, The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

"Social Change from Within and Without Government"

Nationally recognized lawyers in the private sector, non-profit organizations, and government discuss ways that they have used the law for social change in such areas as affordable housing; securing legal and social protection for children, families, and labor; debt relief for the poor; and the use of mediation rather than formal litigation to settle disputes.

• Holly B. Fechner '85—Chief Labor Counsel, U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee, Washington, D.C. and
• Lee I. Fisher '73—President and CEO, Center for Families and Children, Cleveland, Ohio.

Saturday evening's keynote address, "New Insights into Old Problems: Wrongful Convictions in the 21^st Century," will be presented by Nancy J. King '82, Lee S. and Charles A. Speir Professor of Law, Vanderbilt University Law School.

Information about conference events, conference schedule, and registration forms are available online or by contacting Ronald Kahn at 440-775-8495.

Media Contact: Betty Gabrielli