“The First Two Centuries”: The first panel explored the provisions that the drafters made in the United States Constitution for federal judicial selection and traced the two-century history of the selection process following the constitution's adoption. The panel consisted of Charles Cooper, Esq. of Cooper & Kirk PLLC; Gary L. McDowell, Haynes Professor of Leadership Studies and Political Science at the University of Richmond’s Jepson School of Leadership Studies; and Ms. Maeva Marcus, of the United States Supreme Court Historical Society. Rodney A. Smolla, the George E. Allen Chair in Law, served as program coordinator and moderator.
“Modern Federal Judicial Selection”: The second panel explored modern federal judicial selection, tracing the selection process over the last two decades and analyzing how it has grown increasingly contentious. The panel consisted of Theresa M. Beiner, of the William H. Bowen School of Law at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock; Sheldon Goldman, Department of Political Science University of Massachusetts; Judge Edith Jones, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit; and William P. Marshall, the Kenan Professor of Law University of North Carolina School of Law. Carl W. Tobias, Williams Professor of Law at the University of Richmond School of Law, served as moderator.
“The Prospects of Reform”: The third panel explored numerous suggestions for remedying or ameliorating the difficulties that pervade modern federal judicial selection and the prospects for these measures' success. The panel consisted of Terry Eastland, Publisher of The Weekly Standard; Michael Gerhardt, Hanson Professor of Law at the Marshall-Wythe School of Law, College of William and Mary; and Sanford V. Levinson, The W. St. John Garwood Centennial Chair in Law and Professor of Government at the University of Texas School of Law. Gary L. McDowell, the Haynes Professor of Leadership Studies and Political Science at the University of Richmond’s Jepson School of Leadership Studies, served as moderator.