Legendary Scholar and Teacher Jesse Choper to visit Penn State Law

Scholar and professor Jesse H. Choper will visit Penn State Law on November 14 to present  “The Difference Between Conservative and Liberal Supreme Court Justices: the Roberts Court and Its Modern Predecessors.” The public is welcome to this event, set for 12:00 p.m. in the Greg Sutliff Auditorium in the Lewis Katz Building. Light refreshments and a reception will follow. 

Understanding the terms “liberal” and “conservative” in judicial “politics” is a “complicated matter,” according to Choper. His talk will analyze the difference between “political liberals/conservative” and “judicial liberals/conservatives.” He will discuss three elements of Supreme Court judging: (1) the use of “original understandings”, (2) the concept of “judicial restraint,” and (3) individual justice’s ideology, and the critical role of “swing” votes. The talk will conclude with predictions about what the future will hold for this vital institution.

“Dean Choper is beloved by generations of law students and lawyers for his rigorous analysis and enthusiasm in analyzing our legal system. If you have a career in law or are thinking about one, or you care about the Supreme Court and its impact on American society, this is one event not to miss,” said Penn State Law professor Stephen Ross, who studied under Choper at Berkeley, and is organizing this event.

 If you have a career in law or are thinking about one, or you care about the Supreme Court and its impact on American society, this is one event not to miss. --Stephen Ross, Professor of Law at Penn State 

Choper is returning to Penn State since his last childhood visit in the 1950s. A Wilkes-Barre native and graduate of Wilkes University and the University of Pennsylvania Law School, from 1960 to 1961, Choper clerked for Chief Justice Earl Warren of the United States Supreme Court. He has lectured on the U.S. Supreme Court at law schools around the world, and is the author of a constitutional law textbook widely used by law students as well as pre-law undergraduates, and two major scholarly books: Judicial Review and the National Political Process: A Functional Reconsideration of the Role of the Supreme Court and Securing Religious Liberty: Principles for Judicial Interpretation of the Religion Clauses. Choper was dean of Boalt Hall from 1982 to 1992 and is now is the Earl Warren Professor of Law at U.C. Berkeley.

This event will be simulcast to room 29, Lewis Katz Hall in Carlisle, PA.