The annual John Paul Stevens Lecture brings a distinguished jurist to Colorado Law to discuss judging and the state of the judiciary. United States Associate Justice John Paul Stevens delivered the inaugural lecture in September 2011. Since then, the lecture has been given by former justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa Zak Yacoob (2020); U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan (2019); Judge Carlos F. Lucero, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (2018); former Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, New York Court of Appeals (2017); Justice Sonia Sotomayor (2016); Justice Antonin Scalia (2014); Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (2013), and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (2012). The signature fireside chat format of the lecture presents an opportunity for law students, lawyers, and community members to hear about the jurists’ approach to the bench, career, legal philosophy, and law school advice. The lecture often attracts over 2,000 people to CU Boulder’s Macky Auditorium, and is streamed for a national audience.
Eleventh annual John Paul Stevens Lecture featuring Angela R. Riley, Chief Justice, Citizen Potawatomi Nation Supreme Court
Join us on Tuesday, October 18 as Angela R. Riley, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation of Oklahoma, and Professor of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles presents the 11th annual John Paul Stevens Lecture. The lecture is from 5:30-6:30 p.m. and a reception from 6:30-7:30 p.m.
An internationally esteemed jurist and scholar, Justice Riley became the youngest person and first woman to be elected as justice of the Supreme Court of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation of Oklahoma in 2003 and in 2010 was elected as Chief Justice. She is Special Advisor to the Chancellor on Native American and Indigenous Affairs and directs UCLA School of Law’s Native Nations Law and Policy Center, as well as the J.D./M.A. joint degree program in Law and American Indian Studies.
Justice Riley’s lecture will mark the first time that a justice of the high court of an Indigenous Nation has presented this prestigious lecture, and Colorado Law could not be more proud to welcome her.
The Stevens Lecture, sponsored by Colorado Law’s Byron R. White Center for the Study of American Constitutional Law, is free and open to the public. In this fireside chat, Justice Riley will discuss Native Nations as the “third sovereign” within the legal framework of the United States. In conversation with Suzette Malveaux, Director of the Byron R. White Center for the Study of American Constitutional Law, she will explain the role of tribal courts in ensuring justice in Indian country. Justice Riley's remarks and fireside chat with Professor and Director of the White Center Professor Suzette Malveaux will be followed by a Q&A with Colorado Law students and the broader community. There is a special opportunity for in-person guests to attend a reception following the lecture.
One general CLE credit is pending for Colorado attorneys. (Colorado Law Students: This is a C.A.R.E. Pledge eligible event.)
Previous Stevens Lecture Speakers
Zak Yacoob, a former justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa delivered the ninth annual John Paul Stevens Lecture virtually at 12:00 p.m. MT on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. Justice Yacoob is the first international justice to present the Stevens Lecture. Yacoob is well-known nationally and internationally for his contributions to the socioeconomic rights and jurisprudence of South Africa. Justice Yacoob shared his thoughts on the role of the courts, social justice, and racial equality. His remarks and virtual fireside chat with Professor and Director of the White Center Professor Suzette Malveaux were followed by a Q&A with Colorado Law students.
Watch the Recording:
On Sept. 27, 2018, the Hon. Carlos F. Lucero, Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, delivered the seventh annual John Paul Stevens Lecture. Lucero’s talk, "A Constitutional Call to Arms and Reflections on a Judicial Career,” focused on contemporary challenges to the Constitution and the role of lawyers in supporting and defending the Constitution.
The lecture included a Q&A discussion with Suzette Malveaux, Provost Professor of Civil Rights Law and director of the White Center. Lucero also responded to questions from student leaders Leah Fugere (’20), president of the Christian Legal Society; Nicholas Monck (’19), president of the Student Bar Association; and Hannah Regan-Smith (‘19), editor-in-chief of the University of Colorado Law Review.
Watch the recording:
Stevens Lecture Photo Gallery
