 |
Home | Prospective Students Home |
Contact WM Law | W&M
|
|
 | ||
|
|
Overview
The Institute carries forth its mission through a variety of activities. The Institute sponsors the Student Division of the Institute of Bill of Rights Law which conducts programs throughout the year to enhance the educational opportunities of students. The activities of the Student Division culminate in a yearly symposium conceptualized, organized, and conducted exclusively by students. These annual symposia have attracted large and lively audiences and have covered a range of topics. During the past several years, these symposia have considered these issues: “Holding the Purse Strings: Should the Federal Government have Equal Access to Law Schools without Equal Treatment of Gays & Lesbians in the Military?”(2006); “Orden v. Perry and ACLU of Kentucky v McCreary County: An Analysis of the Ten Commandments Cases” (2005); “National Security vs. Personal Liberty: The Detainees at Guantanamo Bay” (2004); “The Future of Affirmative Action” (2003). Students also publish a scholarly journal, the William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal, devoted to analysis of contemporary Bill of Rights issues. Each year, the Institute welcomes major scholars of constitutional law to the Law School as Distinguished Lee Professors. Since the initiation of this program, the Lee Professors have included such prominent scholars as Anita Allen of Georgetown University, David Anderson of the University of Texas, Vince Blasi of Columbia University, Martha Fineman of Columbia University, Kent Greenwalt of Columbia University, Sheri Lynn Johnson of Cornell University, Robert Kamenshine of Vanderbilt University, Yale Kamisar of the University of Michigan, Michael Klarman of the University of Virginia, John McGinnis of Yeshiva University, Robert Nagel of the University of Colorado, John Nowak of the University of Illinois, Charles Ogletree of Harvard University, David Rabban of the University of Texas, Mark Tushnet of Georgetown University, Stephen Wermeil of the Wall Street Journal, G. Edward White of the University of Virginia, and Diane Zimmerman of New York University. The Institute also engages in extensive scholarly examination of pressing issues of constitutional law. For example, the Institute's annual symposia bring together scholars of various disciplines to consider important issues of constitutional law; these proceedings are published in the William and Mary Law Review. In addition, the Institute sponsors a "Constitutional Conflicts" book series in conjunction with Duke University Press. One such publication, A Year in the Life of the Supreme Court, received the American Bar Association's 1995 prestigious Silver Gavel Award. The Institute also aspires to contribute to the popular dialogue about constitutional law in American society. Each year, as part of this aspect of its mission, the Institute sponsors an enormously popular Supreme Court Preview, during which constitutional scholars and leading journalists explore the underlying issues of the cases on the Court's docket for the upcoming term. The proceedings of this conference typically have been broadcast by C-Span. In 1994, the Institute sponsored a major celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision, in which leading lawyers, educators, and policymakers participated. Another significant aspect of the Institute's activities has been its sponsorship of task forces designated to explore creative solutions to emerging questions of constitutional law and policy. For example, an Institute-sponsored task force proposed model legislation to regulate drug testing in the workplace. The Institute performs various functions in a manner consistent with its ties to a professional school and an institution of higher education. It undertakes no lobbying and adopts no partisan political stance.
If you would like to be included on our mailing list for conferences and events, please send an email to IBRL@wm.edu with the following information: or mail to:
Content Manager:
IBRL
|
|
The mission of the Institute of Bill of Rights Law (IBRL) is to contribute to the ongoing national dialogue about issues relating to the United States Constitution and our Bill of Rights. One of the guiding philosophies of the Institute is the conviction that our collective understanding of constitutional issues is enhanced significantly when experts from diverse disciplines - lawyers, journalists, historians, political scientists, economists, sociologists, and politicians - are brought together for serious discussion and debate. Following this interdisciplinary approach, the Institute provides a forum for airing and debating matters of law and policy as a means of increasing our understanding of important constitutional issues. The Institute has been actively involved in its mission since 1982 when it was founded at the College of William and Mary Marshall-Wythe School of Law. Please peruse our site to learn more about the Institute.