Law & Public Policy Speaker Series Continues With A Discussion on Voting Rights

On March 14, students gathered in the Slowinski Court Room at the Columbus School of Law to attend a panel entitled "The Meaning of 'One Person-One Vote': Evenwel V. Abbott in the Supreme Court."

The event, presented by the Law and Public Policy Program and co-sponsored by the American Constitution Society, Democratic Law Students Association, the Republican Lawyers Association, and the Federalist Society is part of a lecture series designed to expose students to public policy issues. It was also an opportunity for students to gain practical networking skills by meeting with current leaders in the field.

Professor Roger Colinvaux, director of the Law and Public Policy Program at CUA Law, introduced panelists Mark Gaber, associate at Jenner and Block, Chris Rickerd, policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union, and Ilya Shapiro, senior fellow in constitutional studies at the Cato Institute and editor-in chief of the Cato Supreme Court Review.

The panelists discussed the Evenwel V. Abbott case and provided a legal background for the "One Person-One Vote" principle. The issue at hand is whether the Equal Protection Clause requires states to equalize the number of eligible voters in legislative districts. Or may states draw districts to contain equal numbers of people regardless of their eligibility to vote?

After the conclusion of the event, panelists took questions from the audience, and students were invited to a reception in the Keelty Atrium for a chance to have informal conversations with the panelists.

The 2016 Law & Public Policy Speaker Series Upcoming events:

April 13: An Insider's View of the Legislative Process: The Role of Legislation Counsel
Henry Cristrup, Office of Legislative Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives
Mark McGunagle, Office of Legislative Counsel, U.S. Senate