FedSoc Forums

President-elect Trump has made counterterrorism a focal point of his administration. The disciplined use of metadata, surveillance, intelligence collection, and information sharing is vital to counterterrorism efforts. Drawing on his former experience as a prosecutor, judge, and the second United States Secretary of Homeland Security, the Hon. Michael Chertoff offered guidance on how these tools can be used most effectively to protect against security challenges such as crowd-sourced terrorism and hostile nation states. -- Featuring: Hon. Michael Chertoff, Senior Of Counsel, Covington & Burling LLP and Executive Chairman and Co-Founder, The Chertoff Group.

With the legalization of gay marriage, numerous cases have arisen in which private citizens have refused to provide services to same-sex citizens getting married. Bakers, photographers, and even local magistrates have been taken to court for discrimination. In this Teleforum, our Religious Liberties experts will join us to discuss whether refusing products or services for same-sex weddings should count as sexual orientation discrimination, and if so, whether the law should provide exemptions for refusals based on religion or conscience about the nature of marriage. -- Featuring: Dr. Ryan T. Anderson, Senior Research Fellow in American Principles and Public Policy, The Heritage Foundation and Prof. Anthony Michael Kreis, Visiting Assistant Professor of Law, Chicago-Kent College of Law.

2016 was a big year for labor and employment law. In Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, a deadlocked Supreme Court allowed a lower court ruling to stand, denying a First Amendment challenge to mandatory union dues. Meanwhile, President Obama’s Department of Labor released a new overtime regulation which would more than double the maximum salary required for exemption from overtime pay. The implementation of the regulation was halted just a few days before going into effect by a nationwide injunction by a federal district court judge. -- With 2017 ahead and the general election behind, our experts discussed the future of labor law under the Trump administration. -- Featuring: Mr. David S. Fortney, Co-founder,Fortney & Scott, LLC; Brent Garren, Deputy General Counsel, Local 32 BJ, Service Employees International Union and John S. Irving, Of Counsel, Kirkland & Ellis LLP.

On Tuesday, December 6, the Supreme Court handed down a unanimous opinion in Salman v. United States affirming the judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. This insider trading case considered whether a personal benefit can be established by the fact that a tippee shared a close family relationship. The teleforum recapped Justice Alito's opinion for the Court which held the Court's prior decision in Dirks v. SEC "allowed the jury to infer that the tipper here breached a duty because he made a 'gift of confidential information to a trading -- Featuring: Todd F. Braunstein, Global Head of Legal Investigations, Willis Towers Watson

What is ahead for religious liberties under the Trump administration? Will churches be granted a victory in Trinity Lutheran v. Pauley? Will Trump’s Justice and Education Departments continue the push for transgender rights in public schools? Professor Richard Garnett of The University of Notre Dame Law School and Professor Thomas Berg of the University of St. Thomas School of Law joined us to answer these questions and many others on religious liberties in 2017. -- Featuring: Professor Thomas C. Berg, James L. Oberstar Professor of Law and Public Policy, University of St. Thomas School of Law and Professor Richard W. Garnett, Paul J. Schierl/Fort Howard Corporation Professor and Concurrent Professor of Political Science, University of Notre Dame Law School.

Professor Eugene Volokh of the UCLA School of Law joined us Monday, December 12 to discuss the ABA’s new Rule 8.4 on professional misconduct. The Rule states that it is professional misconduct for a lawyer to “engage in conduct that the lawyer knows or reasonably should know is harassment or discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or socioeconomic status in conduct related to the practice of law.” The ABA goes further in Comments, stating that “Such discrimination includes harmful verbal or physical conduct that manifests bias or prejudice towards others,” and that the Rule applies in any situation, even social, that is “connected to the practice of law.” Professor Volokh discussed the First Amendment implications and reaction to the new rule. -- Featuring: Professor Eugene Volokh, Gary T. Schwartz Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law

“Suggestions that President-elect Donald Trump put his business holdings in a 'blind trust,' which would mean selling them to avoid potential conflicts of interest are unrealistic and unfair,” says David Rivkin, of Baker and Hostetler, in a recent Washington Post piece. University of Minnesota Law School Professor Richard Painter said, in a New York Times piece, that President-elect Trump’s announced plans to cure conflict-of-interest concerns are “not enough.” Join us as these two legal scholars discuss their positions in greater detail. -- Featuring: Professor Richard Painter, S. Walter Richey Professor of Corporate Law, University of Minnesota Law School and Mr. David B. Rivkin Jr., Partner, BakerHostetler

On December 5, the U.S. Supreme Court will hold oral arguments on two redistricting cases, Bethune-Hill v. Virginia State Board of Elections and McCrory v. Harris. After the movement of population, both Virginia and North Carolina legislatures redrew plans for their state legislative districts. However, plaintiffs in each state challenged the plans as racial gerrymanders diluting the vote of African-American voters. Both cases raise the question of how to comply with the Voting Rights Act requirement that racial minorities have the ability to elect representatives of their choice, along with the Constitutional prohibition of race predominating in the drawing of plans. The Court will be also be asked to clarify the acceptable ways to consider minority populations in drawing plans, what plaintiffs need to show to prove a racial gerrymander, and what would trigger strict scrutiny. -- Featuring: Ms. Maya M. Noronha, Associate, Baker & Hostetler LLP.

On November 29, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Moore v. Texas. This case involves the death penalty and the intellectually disabled. Specifically, whether in capital cases it violates the Eighth Amendment and the High Court’s prior rulings in Hall v. Florida and Atkins v. Virginia to preclude the application of current medical standards and require older medical standards to determine the intellectual disability of a criminal defendant. -- Featuring: Kent S. Scheidegger, Legal Director & General Counsel, Criminal Justice Legal Foundation.

For months, Syrian and Russian warplanes have bombed Aleppo, killing and wounding residents. Russian officials have referred to the siege as “diplomacy backed by force.” The US Ambassador to the UN has called it “barbarism.” The US and France have called for a War Crimes investigation, but any meaningful action at the UN has been blocked by Russia’s place on the Security Council. In this Teleforum, two distinguished professors with extensive practical experience examined the status of the siege under the Law of Armed Conflict and International Humanitarian Law. -- Featuring: Prof. Laurie R. Blank, Clinical Professor of Law, Emory University School of Law and Michael A. Newton, Professor of the Practice of Law Director, Vanderbilt-in-Venice Program, Vanderbilt University Law School.