Professor Ron Kahn Gives Constitution Day Talk

Oberlin College will observe Constitution Day with a lecture by Ron Kahn, James Monroe Professor of Politics and Law.

Kahn will present "Why Does a Conservative/Moderate Supreme Court on a Conservative Age Expand Individual Rights?: Same-Sex Marriage, Guns, and Obamacare” at 4:30 p.m. Monday, October 13, in Hallock Auditorium. Constitution Day commemorates the 1787 signing of the United States Constitution.

Why does the Supreme Court expand individual rights even during less progressive periods of our nation’s history, and will such rights last? For the past three decades, Kahn’s research has centered on the expansion of individual rights under the courts and the Supreme Court’s use of “lived lives” of persons in its decision-making processes.

Asking important questions about signature issues of our time, Kahn will discuss the legal implications and projected longevity of gay marriage, the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act, the Second Amendment, and he will examine how the legal process of the Supreme Court differs from the political process of Congress and the presidency.

Kahn is the newly appointed Erwin N. Griswold ’25 Chair in Politics and Law. A specialist on constitutional law, legal theory, and American political development, Kahn has published several books and articles on the Supreme Court, constitutional law and theory, and American political development.

He teaches courses on constitutional law, the Supreme Court, and American political development. He has received a Distinguished Teaching Award from Oberlin College and from the Law and Courts Division of the American Political Science Association.