2009-2010 Board of the Columbia American Constitution Society

Please join us in congratulating the 2009-2010 Board of the Columbia American Constitution Society!

President: Ron Balfour

Vice-President: Taylor Kirklin

Events Chair: Alexandra Briggs

Media Chair: Michael Overmyer

Finance Chair: Helen Mayer

External Relations Chair: Lisa Knox

Thanks to everyone who ran and voted, and best of luck to our new board!

Columbia ACS Board Election -- Candidates Statements

President

Ron Balfour
Certainly everyone running for ACS board is dedicated both to the cause and the organization. However, I bring two unique things to the table. The first is experience. As a 1L representative I have seen first hand how the organization runs and created important contacts. For example, I *already* have two professors who are committed and eager to speak to the Columbia ACS community this fall about criminal justice issues. The second thing I bring is a creative vision for where ACS goes from here. While I'm proud of what we've done as an organization this year, I think we might be too over-reliant on the "lunchtime debate" event format. Though other events are less conventional, I think ACS is the kind of organization that can and should be pushing the envelope. While my attempts at "open forum discussions" about issues and movie nights haven't gained the kind of traction I'd hoped for, I think I've now had enough experience that I could make these kinds of things happen, if given the opportunity. I think this kind of creativity is important if we want to prevent ACS from degenerating into just another unsolicited email for free pizza lunch; I like free pizza as much as anybody, but ACS can, should, and, with a little creativity, WILL be more than just that.

Taylor Kirklin
I would like to provide leadership for the Columbia ACS chapter because I have both an intellectual interest and personal commitment to the goals of the organization. During the past year, I served as a 1L representative on the ACS board. In this position, I planned several speaker events, including a recap of the 2008 Presidential election and a lunch event focusing on the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. As President, I would continue to expand ACS’s membership and involvement in the CLS community, both through regular social events and lunch events on topical constitutional issues. I would also like to plan events with ACS student groups at other law schools in the area, so that we can meet and network with other New York students with interests similar to ours.

Vice-President

Ron Balfour
Please see my statement for President; I believe the same more or less applies here. I am absolutely dedicated to ACS and will use the skills I mentioned in that statement to improve the organization reagrdless of my position on the board.

Alexandra Briggs
I am running for a board position with the Columbia Law School chapter of the American Constitutional Society because of my beliefs in individual rights protected by the Constitution of the United States. My interest in the role that protected individual liberties play in the United States was sparked during high school when a klu klux clan rally took place near the boarding school I attended. I was outraged by the appearance and the demonstration and found it hard to believe that such individuals still existed. As I pondered it more, however, I began to think about how the freedom every individual has to express her opinions allows a constant discussion and dichotomy throughout the country. And while I may often feel horrified with an individuals personal beliefs, it is more important that they are given the freedom and allowance to express those opinions. Since that time in high school I have become increasingly aware of how important individual liberties are and the important role they play in this country’s history and future.

I have also become more keenly aware of how often these rights and liberties are threatened today. This became especially vivid in Constituional Law when I read Hamdi, and the threat he faced of being detained indeterminately without a right of habeas corpus and a possible utter failure of due process.

It is these beliefs that have motivated me to run for a position on the board of the Columbia Law School chapter of ACS.

Taylor Kirklin
While serving as a 1L representative on the ACS board over the past year, I gained experience working with other members of the board to coordinate events for the organization. As Vice President I would be well equipped to provide support to the President and other board members in planning the group’s events.

Events Chair

Ron Balfour
Obviously the discussion of creativity in event planning that I talked about in my statement for President is particularly relevant here. Moreover, I think we have some work to do in terms of publicity for events. While we're pretty good at sending out emails for events, we've been less good at flyering and have almost entirely neglected the use of facebook events (though I did have a facebook event for my "Roger & Me" event). Again, I think the creative element is of fundamental importance.

Alexandra Briggs
I am running for a board position with the Columbia Law School chapter of the American Constitutional Society because of my beliefs in individual rights protected by the Constitution of the United States. My interest in the role that protected individual liberties play in the United States was sparked during high school when a klu klux clan rally took place near the boarding school I attended. I was outraged by the appearance and the demonstration and found it hard to believe that such individuals still existed. As I pondered it more, however, I began to think about how the freedom every individual has to express her opinions allows a constant discussion and dichotomy throughout the country. And while I may often feel horrified with an individuals personal beliefs, it is more important that they are given the freedom and allowance to express those opinions. Since that time in high school I have become increasingly aware of how important individual liberties are and the important role they play in this country’s history and future.

I have also become more keenly aware of how often these rights and liberties are threatened today. This became especially vivid in Constituional Law when I read Hamdi, and the threat he faced of being detained indeterminately without a right of habeas corpus and a possible utter failure of due process.

It is these beliefs that have motivated me to run for a position on the board of the Columbia Law School chapter of ACS.

Taylor Kirklin
I have planned several events for ACS the past year and am familiar with the process for organizing speakers, making room and food arrangements, and handling other logistics for the group’s activities.

Michael Overmyer
My name is Michael Overmyer and I’d like to be the Events chair next year. I’ve been involved in ACS this year mainly through the moot court team. I’ve also worked to further progressive goals outside of ACS, including volunteering to teach middle-school students about environmental justice and going to Virginia on the Law School Democrats trip in November to campaign door-to-door and work the polls as an election monitor. I have a lot of experience in event planning. In college I ran a student journal on international affairs that published articles by academics. We would organize a forum bringing together some of the authors from each issue to come to campus and discuss their articles. We also hosted a more high-profile speaker once a year, and this included working with speakers agencies and organizing receptions. Last year I was at SIPA (as part of the joint-degree program) and I worked part time at Columbia’s East Asian Institute, where I helped organize and publicize their events. I think the ACS events this year have been really interesting and I’d like to continue to arrange similar talks by professors and practitioners. I’d also be interested in organizing more social events—maybe arranging for a group to go watch a taping of the Daily Show or Colbert. I would also like to try to organize more social events with ACS chapters at other New York law schools.

Finance Chair

Helen Mayer
I got involved with ACS during my 1L year as Assistant to the Finance Chair. I (not surprisingly) helped our current Finance Chair with his duties and served as an active member of the organization. I hope to continue and broaden my involvement with ACS next year as your Finance Chair!

Taylor Kirklin
I am familiar with ACS’s financial procedures, including the process for obtaining funds and the balancing of the group budget.

Michael Overmyer
My name is Michael Overmyer and I’d like to be the Finance chair next year. I’ve been involved in ACS this year mainly through the moot court team. I’ve also worked to further progressive goals outside of ACS, including volunteering to teach middle-school students about environmental justice and going to Virginia on the Law School Democrats trip in November to campaign door-to-door and work the polls as an election monitor. I have a lot of skills and experiences that I think will make me an effective finance chair. First, I’ve taken an accounting course. Second, in college I ran a student publication with a $10,000 annual budget. I was responsible for securing funding from various academic departments, the university president’s office, and the provost’s office. This required drafting a comprehensive budget plan outlining the publications goal and projected expenses. I also paid the publisher and arranged compensation for travel expenses for out-of-town speakers. Finally, when I was working before law school, I helped in drafting my unit’s budget proposal. I think these experiences give me a good background for serving as ACS’s finance chair next year.

Media Chair

Michael Overmyer
My name is Michael Overmyer and I’d like to be the Media chair next year. I’ve been involved in ACS this year mainly through the moot court team. I’ve also worked to further progressive goals outside of ACS, including volunteering to teach middle-school students about environmental justice and going to Virginia on the Law School Democrats trip in November to campaign door-to-door and work the polls as an election monitor. I think I have a lot of skills that would be make a good media chair. I’ve previously worked reporting on Congressional hearings and policy speeches, so I have a lot of experience applicable to writing and editing the stories on the blog about ACS events. I’d like to see the website and blog become more active, perhaps with more student-written opinion pieces. Recruiting students to write short (200 – 500 word) posts could be a great way to get more students involved in the chapter. Though I’m not an HTML expert, I did help with the redesign of the website of one of the places I’ve worked at, and I’m confident I can manage maintaining the website and learning anything I don’t know. I also have some friends in the local freelance web design community who may be able to help in making the website and blog more visually dynamic.

External Relations Chair

Ron Balfour
For this position, I think my experience as a 1L representative is particularly relevant. I am comfortable going out into the community (or the virtual community via email) and representing ACS because I've gotten my feet wet doing it this year. Of course, for any good representative, brevity is of utmost importance. :)

Alexandra Briggs
I am running for a board position with the Columbia Law School chapter of the American Constitutional Society because of my beliefs in individual rights protected by the Constitution of the United States. My interest in the role that protected individual liberties play in the United States was sparked during high school when a klu klux clan rally took place near the boarding school I attended. I was outraged by the appearance and the demonstration and found it hard to believe that such individuals still existed. As I pondered it more, however, I began to think about how the freedom every individual has to express her opinions allows a constant discussion and dichotomy throughout the country. And while I may often feel horrified with an individuals personal beliefs, it is more important that they are given the freedom and allowance to express those opinions. Since that time in high school I have become increasingly aware of how important individual liberties are and the important role they play in this country’s history and future.

I have also become more keenly aware of how often these rights and liberties are threatened today. This became especially vivid in Constituional Law when I read Hamdi, and the threat he faced of being detained indeterminately without a right of habeas corpus and a possible utter failure of due process.

It is these beliefs that have motivated me to run for a position on the board of the Columbia Law School chapter of ACS.

Taylor Kirklin
I have experience organizing events with academics and attorneys outside of the law school for ACS events. Additionally, I think it would be useful to organize events with ACS student groups at other law schools in New York.

Lisa Knox
I am running for External Relations Chair. As a 1L board
representative for ACS, I have seen what a great job the organization
does of arranging speaking events for students. However, I think that
an area in which students would like to see more activity is in
interaction with practitioners and other law schools. To that end, I
would like to serve as External Relations Chair in order to expand
ACS' activities outside of the law school, including getting a
mentorship program off the ground that could link CLS students to ACS'
national network of progressive lawyers in the City and beyond.

Michael Overmyer
My name is Michael Overmyer and I’d like to be the External Relations chair next year. I’ve been involved in ACS this year mainly through the moot court team. I’ve also worked to further progressive goals outside of ACS, including volunteering to teach middle-school students about environmental justice and going to Virginia on the Law School Democrats trip in November to campaign door-to-door and work the polls as an election monitor. I think I’d be an effective external relations chair for several reasons. First, I’m not shy about picking up the phone and calling someone or sending an e-mail to try to get a conversation started. Second, when I was working before law school, a lot of what I did was liaising with other organizations. I have several ideas of what I’d like to do if elected to be external relations chair. I think it would be great to organize more frequent events with ACS chapters at the other New York law schools, and maybe even try to build up a network between ACS chapters throughout the region. Building these ties with ACS students at other schools would be very helpful for maintaining a progressive network throughout our careers after law school. I also think there’s a lot to be gained from increasing our ties to practitioners. For example, I think the ACS Columbia chapter could be a conduit for connecting ACS students looking to fulfill their pro bono requirement to ACS lawyers at local public interest groups. Similarly, I would also like to explore the possibility of students fulfilling their pro bono requirement by working with ACS lawyers at firms who are handling progressive cases on a pro bono basis.

3L Representative

Kate Sauser
I am running for 3L Representative because, after serving as President this past year, I feel like I have valuable information to contribute to next year's board about this chapter's operation and running an organization at Columbia. I hope to continue to serve ACS by planning events, contacting speakers, and improving upon what we did this year. I will also be available to assist board members in anything they might need. I have really enjoyed being a part of ACS and think that the organization is growing more important all the time, and I look forward to staying involved my 3L year and once I graduate. Thanks for your vote!

Immigration Enforcement and the Obama Administration

On Monday, ACS joined CJAN, SIRR, and LaLSA in presenting "Immigration Enforcement and the Obama Administration." The panel discussion featured Joanne Lin, Legislative Counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union, Diana Sen, Associate Counsel for LatinoJustice, and Rebecca Reilly, an Associate with Dewey & LeBoeuf.

Immigrant communities have been greatly impacted in recent years by home and workplace raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The panel discussed these raids and what changes might be expected under the Obama administration.

Ms. Reilly began by describing the experience of immigrants during an ICE raid. Often occurring between 3 and 6 in the morning, agents pound on the door until admitted, and then begin sweeping the home for fugitive people, often with guns drawn. The raids understandably terrify those subjected to them. Ms. Reilly explained that there is usually no consent given by the subject of the raid, not a request for consent. Furthermore, there is usually no warrant, nor any probable cause. If individuals are detained and then released upon verification of their citizenship status, no apology is offered, nor even transportation home. Ms. Reilly suggested that these raids violate the 4th Amendment, and also present an equal protection problem in that ICE tends to call off the raid when a non-Latino individual opens the door.

Ms. Reilly described a class action suit that have been brought against 61 defendants, including Michael Chertoff and 52 ICE agents and supervisors, alleging violations of the 4th and 5th Amendments, Bivens and FTCA claims. Ms. Sen then spoke about litigation resulting from ICE raids that LatinoJustice is involved with. She explained some of the difficulties in bringing such cases and discussed a particular example in which it appears the government has litigated in bad faith, and now faces paying a steep fine to the plaintiffs.

Ms. Lin then spoke about how immigration enforcement might change under the Obama administration. She discussed a likely end to workplace raids, and an emphasis on punishing employers who break the law, rather than the immigrant workers. She also spoke about problems related to increased efforts by local law enforcement to enforce immigration laws and the resulting terrorizing of some immigrant communities. There is also pressure exerted on immigration issues from the ongoing war on drugs. However, Ms. Lin was hopeful that immigration may now no longer be a losing political issue, but one where consensus can be reached and progress made.

Is Section Five of the Voting Rights Act still valid?

On Tuesday, March 31st, ACS co-hosted a talk by Professors Nathaniel Persily and Ted Shaw on the upcoming Supreme Court case Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v. Holder, which tests the continuing validity of Section Five of the voting rights act, which mandates pre-clearance of any voting laws or regulations passed by districts with a history of racial discrimination in voting. The regulations on what districts qualify as having a "history of racial discrimination", and how they can be removed from this list, have been changed several times since the passage of the voting rights act.

Professor Persilly opened up by noting the elephant in the room - the election of President Obama calls into question the continuing need for the Voting Rights Act. The case itself challenges the Voting Rights Act on the Bernie standard - Federal power to remedy civil rights violations is proportional to the violations, and the case charges that the law has not kept up with changing circumstances.

As Professor Persilly noted, the election of Obama in itself is not dispositive of the issue. Research shows that while Obama gained 3% over Kerry's numbers in jurisdictions not covered by Section Five, he gained nothing overall in jurisdictions still covered by the Voting Rights Act. While this also is not proof of continuing racial discrimination - there may be other factors involved (covered jurisdictions are more solidly conservative or the like), it is suggestive that there are still continuing differences between covered and non-covered jurisdictions.

Professor Shaw opened by noting that while the renewal of the Voting Rights Act passed the Senate 98-0 and the House nearly unanimously, the actual behavior of legislators was much more nuanced than the figures suggest. Knowing that a constitutional challenge was coming, many legislators spent time inserting seeds into the record to support the challenge to the Act (suggesting they were voting for the act with serious reservations about its continuing constitutional validity) rather than opposing the act itself.

Professor Shaw also went into detail on why the Act has a sunset provision and is limited to specific jurisdictions; to survive Constitutional challenges. Since Federal power to remedy racial discrimination exists only so long as such discrimination exists, a permanent law exceeds the power of Congress. Applying Section 5 to the entire country would also almost certainly exceed Congress's power to remedy specific instances of discrimination.

The case is considered too close to call, and will most likely depend on which way Justice Kennedy rules.

Polls, Predictions and the 2008 Election

On Thursday ACS was pleased to have Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com speak on his work during the 2008 election cycle, the methodology of poll analysis, and his own plans for the future. Silver, who recently signed a two-book deal with Penguin Group USA, outlined the necessary considerations in political forecasting and how to account for the natural bias exhibited by polls.

FiveThirtyEight.com was created out of frustration with the unsophisticated treatment of polls in the national media, and as an attempt to offer a context that would distinguish different polls and hold polsters accountable for their results. Citing the bad apple effect, where outlier polls garner attention due to their sensationalist results, Silver showed how a flawed polling methodology, such as out-of-date likely voter models or narrow data collection practices, could lead to skewed reporting.

Using various statistical models, including trend adjustment, simulations, and tipping point states, Silver accurately predicted the winner of 49 of 50 states in the 2008 presidential election. But in keeping with his mission is to uncover the hidden agenda of numbers, Silver did not gloat in these results. Instead, he showed that most polls did a good job in this election cycle, and there was only a point of difference between the major poll aggregators. However, while there might not be a significant difference in forecasting, it is in the details that Silver believes there is the most to learn about electoral predictions.

Silver frankly acknowledged that there may be no necessary social purpose for polling, and that he does it for the fun of the numbers. He is turning his attention to new forecasting exploits, and has two upcoming books, treating the art of prediction, including weather forecasting and the science of fashion trends, and the nitty-gritty mechanics of electoral politics. We eagerly look forward to both.

Proposition 8

Today ACS, along with the Federalist Society, CALSOC, CLS ACLU, and BLSA, welcomed Maggie Gallagher, the President of the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy, and Jennifer Vanasco, the Editor in Chief of 365gay.com, for a discussion about the policy issues surrounding California's Proposition 8 and the issue of gay marriage generally. The two spoke about the moral and philosophical background that animates the discussion between the pro- and anti-gay marriage communities, and urged that those invested in the debate seriously take account of reasons the other side has for its position.

Speaking first, Ms. Vanasco related the many forms that marriage has taken from a world-historical perspective. Stressing that while there is no universality to marriage in its current form, a union between two willing and loving heterosexual partners of similar age, there are certain norms and benefits that contemporary marriage conveys, and that these norms hold equally true for committed gay and lesbian couples. Studies have shown that people in committed relationships, gay or straight, are generally happier, healthier, live longer, and have more support in times of crisis than their single peers.

What the current debate often overlooks, in Ms. Vanasco's view, is that the gay community is not simply seeking legal rights, rights that the civil union experiment has not always afforded, but also seeking recognition of the responsibilities that gay partners have assumed for one another and their children. Pointing to the continual hurdles that even those with all the proper legal documentation have in gaining recognition of their relationship, Ms. Vanasco questioned what harm to the institution of marriage was enough to nullify the negative ramifications of not recognizing in law the commitments and responsibilities of gay and lesbian couples.

Noting that many in the room were in agreement with Ms. Vanasco's position, as was typical in her tours of elite universities throughout the country, Mrs. Gallagher urged that the audience attempt to understand the viewpoint of many in the country who believe that changing the definition of marriage to something other than between a man and a woman would alter the cultural understanding of marriage and potentially weaken the bond that keeps families intact.

Mrs. Gallagher also urged that those on the pro-gay marriage side look at the effects of a legal change in definition to the other side. Citing Bob Jones University v. United States, she claimed that expanding the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples would force upon private citizens and organizations legal obligations that would violate their privately held religious beliefs. It would stigmatize as bigotry opposition that arises from worries for the welfare of children born into situations where the bond of the family was less than in the past.

Blogging Politics: How Nate Silver Called the '08 Election

Blogging Politics: How Nate Silver Called the '08 Election

Thursday, Feb. 26, 12:10 p.m.
JG 103

Those who were addicted to political blogs during the '08 campaign could not overlook FiveThirtyEight.com, Nate Silver's contribution to political discourse. Using his unique method of statistical analysis and insightful commentary, Nate kept us up-to-date on daily fluctuations in polling and projections, finally making predictions that were eerily close to the outcome on election night. In addition to his political expertise, Nate offers predictions for sports and, most recently, the Oscars. Come listen to Nate chat about his methods, his experiences on the campaign trail, and what he's up to until 2010.

Lunch will be served

The Debate on 8: A Discussion on California's Gay Marriage Ban

TODAY!
Tuesday, February 24, 12:00 PM
JG 101
Lunch will be served

Maggie Gallagher, President of the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy, and Jennifer Vanasco, Editor in Chief of 365gay.com will discuss the policy issues surrounding California's Proposition 8, which amended the California state constitution to restrict the definition of marriage to opposite-sex couples.

Co-sponsored by the Federalist Society, the American Constitution Society, CALSOC, CLS ACLU, and BLSA

Fifth Annual ACS National Student Writing Competition

The deadline for submissions to the Fifth Annual ACS National Student Writing Competition is coming SOON - Friday, February 20! So, pull out your seminar papers, brush them up and submit them!

This competition is an exciting opportunity for students to gain national recognition for their scholarship and to earn substantial prizes. The student authors of the top three papers will also receive special acknowledgment at the 2009 ACS National Convention to be held June18-21, 2009 in Washington, DC.

The author of the Winning Paper will receive:

• an offer of publication in the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law

and


• a $3,000 check.

The two leading Runners-Up will earn $1,000 each.

So, What Should You Submit?

The American Constitution Society welcomes all papers furthering and promoting a progressive vision of the Constitution, law, and public policy. Subject matters include: Access to the Courts; Civil Liberties; Consumer Rights; Criminal Justice; Disability Rights; Freedom of Speech; GLBT Rights; Human Rights; Immigration; Labor Law; the Political Process; Privacy; Protection of Health,Safety and the Environment; Racial Equality; Religion; Separation of Powers and Federalism; and Women's Rights and Reproductive Freedom.

So, How Will The Paper Be Judged?

Papers will be judged on their effective use, analysis, and/or expansion of progressive legal scholarship. The judging committee will include federal judges and leading academics. The 2009 submission form and information about competition rules, eligibility and format are available online.

Questions?

Please direct questions to LadyStacie Rimes at lrimes[at]acslaw.org or to Rachel Zuraw atzuraw[at]law.upenn.edu. Competition updates will be posted online at ACSLaw.org and the University of Pennsylvania student chapter's website. Participants must be active members of the national ACS. For a mere $10 donation, you can join or renew your ACS national membership here: http://www.acslaw.org/join.

Overturning Ledbetter with Legislation

Overturning "Ledbetter" with Legislation: The Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

Tuesday, February 17, 2009
12:00 - 1:00 PM; JG 101

Professor Olati Johnson will discuss the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, recently signed by President Obama in response to the Supreme Court's ruling in Ledbetter v. Goodyear, and the implications of the Act. Contact: Taylor Kirklin, jtk2121@columbia.edu