Byron R. White Center for the Study of American Constitutional Law
The Fifteenth Ira C. Rothgerber, Jr. Conference
January 25, 2008
Reapportioning Colorado
Speakers
Ken Gordon is Majority Leader of the Colorado State Senate, representing District 35. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Legislative Council and of the Legislative Council and Senate Services Committees. He wins awards from Westword for best political ads, acting as his own stuntman riding horseback and dipping into a tank of sharks at the aquarium. He is also a medical malpractice and criminal defense attorney in Denver.
Sanford V. Levinson is Garwood Centennial Professor of Law and Professor of Government at the University of Texas. He is a nationally acclaimed scholar on constitutional law with over 250 publications. His most recent book is “Our Undemocratic Constitution: Where the Constitution Goes Wrong (and How We the People Can Correct It). A recent article is “How the United States Constitution Contributes to the Democratic Deficit in America.” Another is “One Person, One Vote: A Mantra in Need of Meaning.”
Michael P. McDonald is Associate Professor of Political Science in the Department of Public and International Affairs at George Mason University and a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. His many publications include “Taking the ‘Re’ out of Redistricting: State Constitutional Provisions on Redistricting Timing” and "Regulating Redistricting." He heads The United States Elections Project, which provides election statistics, electoral laws, research reports, and other useful information regarding the United States electoral system.
Nina Perales is Southeast Regional Counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, in charge of the San Antonio office she directs MALDEF's litigation, advocacy and public education in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and six additional southern and western states. She specializes in voting rights litigation, including redistricting and vote dilution challenges. She served as lead counsel for Latino challengers to the Texas 2003 congressional redistricting plan and successfully argued that case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2006.
Nathaniel A. Persily is Professor of Law and Political Science at Columbia University and a nationally recognized scholar on election law. He has served as an expert on redistricting for several courts and for the California Senate. The Yale Law Journal recently published his article, "The Promise and Pitfalls of the New Voting Rights Act," and this year Oxford Press will publish “Public Opinion and Constitutional Controversy,” co-authored by Professor Persily.
Rosemary E. Rodriguez was Chair of the Colorado Reapportionment Commission in 2002 and is now Chair of the U. S. Election Assistance Commission. She has also served on the Denver City Council, as Denver Clerk and Recorder, and as acting director of the Denver Election Commission. She was a co-founder of the Latina Initiative, a voter registration project to register and inform Latino voters.
Susan M. Sterett is Professor of Political Science at the University of Denver and chair of the DU Department of Political Science. Her scholarly interests include citizenship, American political development, and social welfare in Western post-industrial states. Her publications include “Immigration; Public Pensions: Gender and Civic Service in the States, 1850s-1937”; and “Creating Constitutionalism? The Politics of Legal Expertise and Administrative Law in England and Wales.”
Tim Storey is a Senior Fellow and elections analyst with the National Conference of State Legislatures in Denver. His expert knowledge of redistricting helped identify most of the speakers at this conference. His articles often appear in State Legislatures, published by the Conference, and in Spectrum, published by the Council of State Governments. Titles include “Recommendations for reform: with numerous studies and reports, there is no dearth of advice on how to overhaul the country's election system”; “Gerrymandering goes to court”; and “In Search of a Perfect Election.”
John A. Straayer is Professor of Political Science at Colorado State University and is the dean of academic students of Colorado government. His books include “The Colorado General Assembly”, “State and Local Politics”, and “American State and Local Government and Politics.” For more than a quarter century, he has run CSU’s Political Science Legislative Internship Program, which brings students to the Capitol to assist legislators. In 2003, the General Assembly awarded him a Special Commendation for his service.
Richard A. Westfall is a partner in the Denver law firm of Hale Friesen. His practice areas include constitutional litigation, state government law, regulatory law, and nonprofit organizations law. He has served as Deputy Solicitor General and Solicitor General for the State of Colorado and as a member of the Colorado Ballot Title Setting Board. He was a law clerk to the namesake of CU’s White Center, Justice Byron R. White.
Heather Witwer is an attorney residing in Golden. She was deputy legal counsel to Governor Bill Owens, and he appointed her to the 2002 Colorado Reapportionment Commission. She also served as Vice-Chair of the Colorado Board of Education and was an associate with the law firm of Holme, Roberts & Owen.
Robert E. Witwer represents District 25 in the Colorado House of Representatives. He servers on the House Education Committee and the Joint Education and Local Government Committees, and he has a special interest in public lands. He has practiced with the national law firm of Hogan and Hartson and as legal counsel for the Colorado Republican Party and is Assistant General Counsel to Coors Brewing Co. His expertise includes campaign finance and election law.
