This year Arizona Law celebrates 16 years of hosting thoughtful conversations about US Supreme Court cases that affect the lives and rights of citizens across this country. We are excited that it is time again for the Supreme Court Review, one of the college's most popular events, hosted by the William H. Rehnquist Center on the Constitutional Structures of Government.

 

Constitution Day is an annual event, celebrated in schools and communities nationally, commemorating the day in 1787 that the United States Constitution was approved by the state delegations to the Constitutional Convention and signed by thirty-nine of its framers.

 

This year, our Supreme Court Review will be moderated by Professor Dave Marcus and our distinguished panelists include:

Amy Howe

 

• Judge Neil V. Wake, United States District Court for the District of Arizona; 

• Amy Howe, Editor and Reporter, SCOTUSblog;

• Dean Emerita Toni M. Massaro, Regents' Professor, Milton O. Riepe Chair in Constitutional Law; and

• Professor Andrew Coan, Associate Director, William H. Rehnquist Center on the Constitutional Structures of Government

 

We will focus the discussion on four seminal cases from the recent Term. By way of thanks to Amy Howe, I've included the brief holdings from SCOTUSblog.

 

• NLRB v. Noel Canning holding that three of the president's recess appointments to the NLRB were unconstitutional.

• Bond v. United States holding that the Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Act of 1998, which criminalizes, among other things, the possession or use of "chemical weapons," does not reach Bond's conviction for simple assault, arising from her efforts to poison her husband's mistress by spreading chemicals on (among other things) her doorknob, causing only a minor burn that was easily treated with water.

• Town of Greece v. Galloway holding that the town's practice of opening its town board meetings with a prayer offered by members of the clergy does not violate the Establishment Clause when the practice is consistent with the tradition long followed by Congress and state legislatures.

• Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores holding that, as applied to closely held corporations, the regulations promulgated by the Department of Health and Human Services requiring employers to provide their female employees with no-cost access to contraception violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

 

While the most valuable benefit at this great annual event is the intellectual engagement, we offer icing too, in the form of CLE credit.  There is a break -- roughly in the middle of the program after two cases, and you are welcome to stay for all or part of the afternoon. 

 

Join us on September 15th from 1 pm to 4pm in the Ares Auditorium (Room 164). Register here. 

 

 

Andy and his wife Lori

 

Continuing with our theme of constitutional rights and responsibilities, this seems like a good time, place, and manner to introduce one of our newest faculty members, Andy Coan.

 

Andy comes to Arizona Law from the University of Wisconsin and will teach in the areas of constitutional law and civil procedure. He joins Associate Dean and Director Sally Rider as the Associate Director of the Rehnquist Center.

 

His background and experience offer a wealth of opportunities for our students. He graduated from Stanford Law School, served as a law clerk to Judge Richard Posner of the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, worked for Baker & McKenzie, Faegre Baker Daniels, and Bingham McCutchen.

 

"I think of myself as a student of legal institutions, constitutional and otherwise. Much of my recent work has focused on the capacity limits of the Supreme Court and how those limits constrain the Court's substantive decisions. Federalism is also interesting, particularly the interplay between state and national governance in areas where the federal government is nominally supreme. It's very exciting to be joining the Rehnquist Center, and to work with students on meaningful scholarship in these areas."

 

Andy with his twin daughters

 

Andy is quick to point out that his true passion is teaching and working with students. He especially hopes to aid in the clerkship application process. "My own clerkship with Judge Richard Posner changed my life and approach to the law in profound ways. I am eager help Arizona Law students have similar experiences."

 

Andy and his wife Lori, a sculptor and teacher, have been diving deep into Tucson culture since joining Arizona Law.  You might do a double-take when his family visits the college because they have identical twin seven-year-old girls!

 

He enjoys wine and coffee -- he is already well-acquainted with the competing views that tradition wins (Raging Sage), access wins (Caffe Luce), or we are Tucsonans, and you can go to both! 

 

In his spare time Andy also enjoys contemporary English literature, and is a self-proclaimed Civil War buff. He says, "If you see me with headphones on, I am almost certainly listening to Civil War history." Andy, as many Arizonans will tell you, there is an annual reenactment just 40 miles northwest of Tucson at Picacho Peak, the country's westernmost Civil War battlefield.

 

 

Our community is deeply intellectual and well-anchored in the values of a world-class research university.  But, like other professions that have one foot firmly grounded in the real world and another in philosophical roots and branches, our community is also highly engaged with the world around us, locally and globally, on a personal and a professional level.

 

For example, this summer Jayme Weber ('15) and Andy Hall ('15), in their role as editors on the Arizona Law Review, attended a program with editors from other US law schools in Israel. As part of the trip, they were able to meet the Chief Justice of the Israeli Supreme Court, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, members of the Israeli Parliament, and explore the cultural elements of the country.

 

One of their favorite experiences was exploring Hezekiah's Tunnel, an ancient tunnel that supplied  water to the city: Andy described it as "very Indiana Jones." Experiences like these help develop students in their perspectives and professional goals.