2020 Rothgerber Conference

UPDATE ON THE 2020 ROTHGERBER CONFERENCE

Thank you for your interest in the 28th Annual Ira C. Rothgerber Conference, “Women’s Enfranchisement: Beyond the 19th Amendment.” The law school, along with the broader CU Boulder campus, has been closely monitoring the emerging global coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The health, safety, and well-being of our community is our top priority.  

After careful deliberation, the event's planning committee has decided that the Rothgerber Conference will now take place remotely on Friday April 3, through the use of a Zoom Webinar. In advance of the conference, we will provide a link for you to join the webinar, where you will be able to see and hear the keynote speaker, moderators and panelists, and to submit questions for discussion.  All you need is a computer with a webcam and audio to participate.

The conference will run from 8:30 am-5:00 pm MT as originally scheduled. We will notify you of any updates to the programming. Thank you for your patience as we work to finalize details. We’re excited you’ll be joining us virtually for the Rothgerber Conference Webinar on April 3!  

Register Now

2020 Rothgerber Conference 

2020 will mark the centennial of the 19th Amendment, formally extending suffrage to some, but not all, women, and is a presidential election year with an unprecedented number of female candidates running for national and local offices. But barriers to both political rights and social, lived equality persist, particularly for women at the intersections of race, sex, and class.  The 28th Annual Ira C. Rothgerber Conference will use the centennial to take stock of how far we’ve come—and how far we have to go—in terms of formal political enfranchisement as well as the social and economic empowerment of women more broadly.

Rothgerber Webinar Schedule | April 3, 2020

8:30-9:00am  Introductory Remarks by Suzette Malveaux (CU Law) 

9:00-10:00am  Keynote Address: Reva Siegel (Yale Law)

10:00-10:15am  BREAK

10:15am-12:00pm  PANEL 1

"Historical Perspectives on the 19th Amendment: Looking Back, Looking Forward”

  • Susan Schulten (University of Denver)
  • Carolyn Ramsey (Colorado Law)
  • Julie Suk (CUNY)
  • Mary Ziegler (FSU Law)

12:00-12:15pm  BREAK

12:15-2:00pm  PANEL 2

“Barriers to Political Representation”

  • Bertrall Ross (Berkeley Law)
  • Dara Strolovitch (Princeton)
  • Atiba Ellis (Marquette Law)
  • Ming H. Chen (Colorado Law)

2:00-2:15pm  BREAK

2:15-4:00pm  PANEL 3

“Lived Equality: Beyond Formal Political Rights”

  • Aya Gruber (Colorado Law)
  • Chinyere Ezie (Center for Constitutional Rights)
  • Diana Flynn (Lambda Legal)
  • Scott Skinner-Thompson (Colorado Law) 

4:00-4:30pm  Closing Remarks 

 

 

2019 Rothgerber Conference

The Ira C. Rothgerber Jr. Conference on Constitutional Law is an annual Byron R. White Center event that brings scholars and lawyers from across the nation to the University of Colorado Law School to discuss current Constitutional law issue. Topics have included the future of national injunctions, listeners’ First Amendment rights and litigation strategies that promote Constitutional change.

Suzette Malveaux

White Center Director Suzette Malveaux presents at the 2019 Rothgerber Conference

Weiser

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser

Hausman

David Hausman, Esq., ACLU

Copeland

Charlton Copeland (University of Miami School of Law)

Question

Zachary D. Clopton (Cornell Law School)

group

Ahmed White (University of Colorado Law School), Portia Pedro (Boston University School of Law), and Howard Wasserman (Florida International University College of Law)

Hannah Regan-Smith

Hannah Regan-Smith ('19), editor-in-chief of the University of Colorado Law Review

group

Professor Suzette Malveaux and Colorado Law students

Rothberger scholars together for a hike in Boulder

Rothgerber scholars together for a hike in Boulder

Michael Morley speaking at the 27th Annual Conference

Michael Morley of FSU Law speaking at the 27th Annual Conference

Ahmed White

Ahmed White (Colorado Law)

Alan Trammell

Alan Trammel of Arkansas Law 

Panelists with Colorado Law Dean James Anaya

Panelists with Colorado Law Dean James Anaya

Panelists at Dinner

Doug Rendelman, Alan Trammel, and Howard Wasserman

Doug Rendleman of Washington and Lee School of Law

Doug Rendleman of Washington and Lee School of Law

Mila Sohoni of San Diego Law

Mila Sohoni of San Diego Law

Panelists

Panelists of the 27th Annual Rothgerber Conference

Portia Pedro of BU Law

Portia Pedro of BU Law

Panelist Zachary Clopton of Cornell

Panelist Zachary Clopton of Cornell

 

    Past conferences

    The 27th Annual Rothgerber Conference took place Friday, April 5, 2019, and was open to the public. This year's conference focused on the topic, "National Injunctions: What Does the Future Hold?", and featured an exciting panel of diverse scholars, with remarks by Phil Weiser, Colorado Attorney General; and Professor Suzette Malveaux, University of Colorado Law School.   

    Introductory Remarks (Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and Professor Suzette Malveaux)

    Panel I - Court Authority and Policy Considerations

    • Professor Alan Trammell, Arkansas Law
    • Professor Doug Rendleman, W&L Law School of Law
    • Professor Suzette Malveaux, Colorado Law
    • Professor Charlton Copeland, Miami Law

    Panel II - Lessons from Various Models

    • David Hausman, Esq., ACLU
    • Professor Zachary D. Clopton, Cornell Law
    • Professor Michael T. Morley, FSU Law

    Panel III - Other Conceptions of National Injunctions

    • Professor Ahmed White, Colorado Law
    • Professor Howard Wasserman, FIU College of Law 
    • Professor Portia Pedro, BU Law
    • Professor Mila Sohoni, San Diego Law

    At the 26th Annual Rothgerber Constitutional Law Conference on Friday, April 13, 2018, speakers from around the U.S. explored a broad range of issues related to listeners’ constitutional interests and rights, including when and why listeners’ interests should matter to First Amendment law, how we might go about determining listeners’ interests, and what to do when listeners’ interests may be in tension with speakers’ interests -- generally or in specific contexts involving speech to voters, consumers, workers, students, information users, shareholders, clients, consumers of the media, and other specific individuals or communities.

    Scholarship

    The 25th Annual Rothgerber Constitutional Law Conference addressed the topic of “Truth, Lies, and the Constitution.” Speakers included:

    • Professor Alan Chen, University of Denver Sturm College of Law 
    • Professor Carla Fredericks, University of Colorado School of Law 
    • Professor David Han, Pepperdine University School of Law 
    • Professor B. Jessie Hill, Case Western Reserve University School of Law 
    • Professor Gregory Klass, Georgetown Law School 
    • Professor Justin Marceau, University of Denver Sturm College of Law 
    • Professor Helen Norton, University of Colorado School of Law 
    • Professor Catherine Ross, George Washington University School of Law 
    • Professor Mark Spottswood, Florida State University College of Law 
    • Professor James Weinstein, Sandra Day O’Connor Arizona State University College of Law 
    • Professor Christina Wells, University of Missouri School of Law 

    Keynote Address

    Panel One

    Panel Two

    Panel Three

     

    Scholarship

      The 24th Annual Rothgerber Conference offered attendees the opportunity to recognize the contributions of Colorado Law Professor Robert Nagel to constitutional scholarship over the course of his career. Speakers included:

      • Professor Larry Alexander, San Diego Law School
      • Professor Paul Campos, University of Colorado Law School
      • Professor Mark Tushnet, Harvard Law School
      • Dr. Matthew Franck, Director, William E. and Carol G. Simon Center on Religion and the Constitution
      • Professor Michael Greve, George Mason University School of Law
      • Professor Stephen Presser, Northwestern Law School
      • Professor Frederick Schauer, Virginia Law School

      Panel One

      Panel Two

        The 23rd Annual Rothgerber Conference, “Presidential Interpretation of the Constitution,” brought academics from around the country to explore the themes raised in Professor Hal Bruff’s recently published Uncommon Ground: How Presidents Interpret the Constitution. Professor Bruff delivered a keynote address. Speakers included:

        • Gabrielle Appleby, University of South Wales
        • Henry L. Chambers, Jr., Richmond School of Law
        • Kathleen Clark, Washington University Law School
        • Martin Flaherty, Fordham Law School
        • Heidi Kitrosser, University of Minnesota Law School
        • David Pozen, Columbia Law School
        • Peter Shane, Ohio State University Moritz College of Law
        • Kevin Stack, Vanderbilt Law School
        • Adam Webster, University of Adelaide, South Australia

          At the 22nd Annual Rothgerber Conference, on October 2, 2014, academics and attorneys from around the country gathered to discuss how litigation strategy has pushed and is continuing to push constitutional change. There were three panels during the conference, focusing on these topics: race and constitutional litigation; getting to same-sex marriage; and constitutional litigation and movement identity.

          The 21st Annual Rothgerber Conference focused on federalism and its impact on the constitutional debates surrounding the legalization of marijuana, gay marriage, gun rights, and immigration. Yale Law School Professor Heather Gerken gave the conference's keynote address, entitled "The Political Safeguards of Horizontal Federalism."

          The 20th Annual Rothgerber Conference took place in November 2012 and focused on expanding Constitutional literacy to the public.  The Conference featured keynote speaker Professor Mark Tushnet of Harvard Law, a prominate advocate in popular constitutionalism. 

          Video of Professor Mark Tushnet's Keynote Address

          Video from Panel Discussion

           

          On November 4-5, 2011, participants in the 19th Annual Rothgerber Conference spoke about “Toward a Constitutional Right of Access to Justice: Implications and Implementation.” The Conference explored the many facets of access to justice, with panelists discussing recent Supreme Court decisions on the civil right to counsel and taxpayer standing; the role of law school clinics, pro bono work and cause lawyering in providing access; and the crisis in funding and other barriers to operationalizing access.