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Vail Symposium to host discussion of U.S. Constitution in first event of the summer

Virtual seminar on Wednesday will discuss how the Constitution informs legal issues like freedom of speech

A graphic of the U.S. Constitution is shown.
Special to the Daily

The Vail Symposium will host a virtual discussion Wednesday evening on the U.S. Constitution and how it informs current legal issues such as freedom of speech and the Electoral College.

Wednesday’s event will begin at 6 p.m., marking the first program of the Vail Symposium’s summer 2021 season, according to a recent news release.

The talk features three legal experts who will discuss different constitutional interpretations as they apply to some of today’s most hotly contested legal issues, the symposium’s director of programming, Claire Noble, said in the release.



“Audience members will have the opportunity to hear constitutional interpretation from either end of the ideological spectrum,” Noble said. “Our speakers and moderator are all steeped in judicial scholarship, guaranteeing an evening of educated legal debate.”

The two speakers slated for the event are Keith Whittington, a professor of politics at Princeton University and author specializing in American constitutional theory, and Stephen Vladeck, co-host of “National Security Law Podcast,” author and Supreme Court analyst for CNN. The discussion will be moderated by local attorney Rohn Robbins, a member of Caplan & Earnest’s family law section.

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Other topics on the docket for Wednesday’s discussion include executive orders, the separation of war powers and the shifting of power to the Executive Branch through congressional and judicial abdication, according to the news release.

The U.S. Constitution has only been amended 27 times in the 234 years since its ratification and, since 1803, the U.S. Supreme Court has had the final say on what is and isn’t constitutional. Vladeck and Whittington will offer up different schools of thought on how to interpret the constitution, drawing upon their respective areas of expertise, according to the release.

IF YOU GO…

What: Open to Interpretation: The Constitution

When: Wednesday, May 19, 2021. Program from 6-7 p.m. MST

Where: Zoom Webinar

More information: This program is free. Please register at http://www.vailsymposium.org for more information.


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