Justice Thomas’s Thirty-Year Legacy on the Court

Co-hosted by The Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies
at The Heritage Foundation

Thursday, October 21, 2021

WATCH VIDEOS FROM THE DAYTIME SYMPOSIUM AND EVENING LECTURE:

PANEL 1: Safeguarding the Structural Constitution: Federalism and the Separation of Powers

PANEL 2: Constitutional Liberties: First Amendment, Religion, Race and Natural Law

LUNCHTIME CONVERSATION: Michael Pack, producer and developer of the documentary, Created Equal: Justice Thomas in His Own Words

PANEL 3: Originalism, Constitutional Interpretation, and Stare Decisis

PANEL 4: Advocacy in the Thomas-era Court

EVENING LECTURE: Including Concluding Thanks by Justice Clarence Thomas

This event was approved for 5 hours of CLE credit.

The C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State at Antonin Scalia Law School and The Heritage Foundation co-hosted a special event to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the confirmation of Justice Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court of the United States. It brought together jurists, legal academics, and practitioners, including many of his former clerks, where we discussed the Justice’s jurisprudence and impact on the Court over the past three decades.

Agenda

All sessions were held in the Allison Auditorium at The Heritage Foundation (214 Massachusetts Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002)

8:30 a.m. Registration and Continental Breakfast

9:00 a.m. Welcome and Introduction

John G. Malcolm, Vice President, Institute for Constitutional Government and Director, Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, The Heritage Foundation

9:05 a.m. Panel I – Safeguarding the Structural Constitution: Federalism and the Separation of Powers

The Honorable William H. Pryor Jr., Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
The Honorable Edith H. Jones, Circuit Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
The Honorable Neomi Rao, Circuit Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
The Honorable Thomas M. Hardiman, Circuit Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Moderator: John Yoo, Emanuel S. Heller Professor of Law, Co-Faculty Director, Korea Law Center, and Director, Public Law & Policy Program, UC Berkeley School of Law

10:20 a.m. Break

10:30 a.m. Panel II – Constitutional Liberties: First Amendment, Religion, Race, and Natural Law

The Honorable Allison Jones Rushing, Circuit Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Nicole Stelle Garnett, John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law, Notre Dame Law School
Elbert Lin, Partner, Hunton Andrews Kurth, and former Solicitor General of West Virginia
Michael W. McConnell, Richard and Frances Mallery Professor and Director of the Constitutional Law Center, Stanford Law School, and a Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution
Moderator: Adam Mortara, Lecturer in Law, University of Chicago Law School

11:45 a.m. Lunch Buffet

12:00 p.m. Lunchtime Conversation with the producer and developer of the documentary
Created Equal: Justice Thomas in His Own Words

Michael Pack, President and Founder, Manifold Productions, Inc.
Moderator: Mark R. Paoletta, Partner, Schaerr Jaffe LLP

1:00 p.m. Break

1:15 p.m. Panel III – Originalism, Constitutional Interpretation, and Stare Decisis

The Honorable James C. Ho, Circuit Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
The Honorable Gregory E. Maggs, Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
Christopher Landau, Former Ambassador to Mexico
Erik S. Jaffe, Partner, Schaerr Jaffe LLP
Moderator: The Honorable Gregory G. Katsas, Circuit Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

2:30 p.m. Break

2:45 p.m. Panel IV – Advocacy in the Thomas-era Court

The Honorable Noel J. Francisco, Partner-in-Charge of the Washington office of Jones Day and 47th Solicitor General of the United States
The Honorable Paul D. Clement, Partner, Kirkland & Ellis, and 43rd Solicitor General of the United States
Lisa S. Blatt, Partner and Chair of the Supreme Court and Appellate practice group of Williams & Connolly LLP, and former Assistant to the Solicitor General of the United States
Jeffrey Wall, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, and former acting Solicitor General of the United States
Moderator: Jennifer Mascott, Assistant Professor of Law and Co-Executive Director of the C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State, Antonin Scalia Law School

4:00 p.m. Closing Comments

Jennifer Mascott, Assistant Professor of Law and Co-Executive Director of the C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State, Antonin Scalia Law School

EVENING LECTURE: