Development of First Amendment law under Rehnquist's Court to be discussed at Nov. 18 conference; MCLE credit available

Nov. 7, 2005 -- First Amendment and public law scholars from around the country will come together during "The Rehnquist Court and the First Amendment" conference from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Nov. 18 in Anheuser-Busch Hall, Room 309.

The conference, sponsored by the Washington University Journal of Law and Policy, will examine the development of First Amendment law over the past two decades under Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist.

"First Amendment issues - whether dealing with free speech or with religion and the Constitution - were always at the forefront during the Rehnquist Court," says Neil Richards, J.D., associate professor of law.

"Our conference will try to make some sense of the evolution of the law in these areas over the past two decades, as the Court grappled with both very new and very old issues in its First Amendment cases. At the same time, we will try to take stock of First Amendment theory, and discuss its applicability to our understandings of First Amendment jurisprudence more broadly."

Richards is organizing the conference with Heather Buethe, a third-year law student and the Journal's managing editor.

Conference panel discussions will focus on technology and speech, property and speech, commercial speech, methodological approaches to the First Amendment, and religion clause jurisprudence.

This conference is free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Buethe hgmackie@wulaw.wustl.edu. A conference agenda is available at http://law.wustl.edu/Journal/index.asp?id=1419.

This conference qualifies for 6.9 hours of MCLE credit.