Report on Arguments in Ricci v. DeStefano

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments today in Ricci v. DeStefano, one of the cases that will be discussed by Greg Coleman at our lunch event on May 21. You can read Bloomberg's report on the oral arguments here.

May 21 program featuring Greg Coleman

The Northwest Austin MUD and Ricci Civil Rights Cases:

A View from the Podium

featuring

Gregory S. Coleman
Yetter, Warden & Coleman, L.L.P.

Former Texas Solicitor General Gregory S. Coleman argued two important civil rights cases to before the U.S. Supreme Court this term, Northwest Austin M.U.D. v. Holder and Ricci v. DeStefano. Mr. Coleman will present his thoughts on the oral arguments and the implications of these cases for the Court's civil rights jurisprudence.

Northwest Austin M.U.D. v. Holder challenges the constitutionality of the preclearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act. It presents the question of whether the Petitioner utility district is eligible to "bail out" from the preclearance requirement, and whether Congress provided sufficient justification of current voting discrimination when extended the requirement in 2006 for another twenty-five years.

Ricci v. DeStefano concerns firefighters' claims that New Haven city officials violated the Equal Protection Clause and Title VII by discarding the results of certain civil-service examinations to achieve racial proportionality in candidates selected. Petitioners qualified for promotion under a race-blind, merit-selection process mandated by local law but were denied the positions by the city because of their race and racial disparities in the examinations’ outcome. City officials refused to promote the successful candidates and left the vacancies unfilled, intending to repeat the competition with the aim of awarding a higher proportion of the promotions to minority candidates.

Mr. Coleman heads Yetter, Warden & Coleman's appellate litigation practice.

Thursday, May 21, 2009
Registration Begins at 11:45 a.m.
Program Begins at 12:00 noon
Houston Club • 811 Rusk

$35 paid online in advance

$20 for government employees, paid online in advance


Please RSVP by Tuesday, May 19.
Please click here to RSVP and pay in advance.
(http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=182295)
Email RSVPs also accepted at houston.fed.soc@swbell.net.

1.0 Hour CLE Approved. Seating is limited.

Update: Max capacity reached for April 15

Due to overwhelming response, we have reached our capacity for reservations for the April 15 CLE luncheon at South Texas College of Law.

If you have reserved a spot and are unable to attend, please let us know so we can offer your space to somebody from the waiting list. If you wish to attend and have not already sent your rsvp, please do so as soon as possible so we can add you to the waiting list. We expect to be able to accommodate many people from the waiting list after we confirm how many STCL students are expected to attend.

Update: April 15 Program on "What Should We Do About the Mortgage and Foreclosure Crisis"

The Templeton Debate and Lecture Series on Freedom

co-sponsored by the Houston Lawyers and South Texas College of Law Students Chapters of The Federalist Society

presents

Prof. Todd J. Zywicki
George Mason University School of Law

Professor Zywicki will be exploring the causes of the mortgage crisis and the subsequent causes and responses to the resulting foreclosure crisis. In particular, the presentation will examine the economic and legal factors that led to the real estate and mortgage boom and the economic and legal factors that have caused the foreclosure crisis, including differences in state laws that have exacerbated the foreclosure crisis. Finally, Professor Zywicki will discuss various proposals to respond to the crisis, including proposed changes to the bankruptcy laws, federal regulation of consumer credit, and related ideas.

also featuring commentators
Prof. Matthew Festa, South Texas College of Law
and Michael Dokupil, SFC Capital Management


Wednesday, April 15, 2009
12 noon, Registration and lunch
12:15 p.m., Program
South Texas College of Law • 1303 San Jacinto Street
1.0 hours CLE Credit approved

There is no cost for this event. However, because seating is limited, reservations are required. We will confirm all reservations by return email.

The event will be publicized to the Houston bar and to South Texas student body, so please respond promptly to save your spot! We cannot guarantee that we will have a seat or a lunch for anyone without a confirmed reservation.

Please R.S.V.P. to houston.fed.soc@swbell.net.