January 23, 2013 – April 17, 2013
COLLEGE OF LAW, ROOM 204
The American judicial system today operates in a complex environment of legal principle, political pressure, and media coverage. The separate elements of this complex environment are typically studied by different groups of individuals working from different perspectives. Law faculty tend to focus on legal principle; political scientists examine the influence of politics; and scholars of public communication assess the media.
The goal of this lecture series is to engage in a dialogue about the court system and its environment as a single, integrated subject of study. The lectures complement the Law, Politics, and the Media course and involve sitting judges, practicing lawyers, and working journalists.
All lectures are held on Wednesdays, from 4-5:15pm in Room 204 at the College of Law.
January 23
“Criminal Justice Journalism and the Politics of Fear: Finding the Balance Between Education and Entertainment in True-Crime Narratives”
Mark Obbie, Author and Journalist, former Executive Editor of The American Lawyer, and former Magazine Journalism faculty member at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications
January 30
“Public Health: Improving Health Through Politics, Policy, and People”
Dr. Cynthia Morrow, Commissioner of Health for Onondaga County in Syracuse, NY
February 6
“The Extinction of the American Moderate”
Michael Arcuri, former Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York’s 24th District, Of Counsel, Hancock Estabrook LLP
February 27
“Lawyers, Judges, Ethics Rules and the Limits on Speech”
Thomas Spahn, Partner, McGuire Woods
March 27
“Media and the Judicial Confirmation Process”
Peter Canellos, Boston Globe, Editorial Page Editor
April 3
“Media Coverage and the Politics of Judicial Selection: A Conversation with Judge James E. Graves, Jr.”
Judge James E. Graves, Jr., United States Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit and Keith J. Bybee, Paul E. and the Hon. Joanne F. Alper ’72 Judiciary Studies Professor, Syracuse University College of Law
April 10
“The Terror Courts”
Jess Bravin, Wall Street Journal, Supreme Court Reporter
April 17
“Civics, the Internet, and the Art of Self-Government”
Gene Koo, iCivics Executive Director