The Next President and the Law
A new Democratic president will take office on January 20, 2009, facing a federal judiciary stacked with Republican appointees in 20 of the last 28 years, and a Department of Justice that has been more tied to the President’s policy interests than the impartial enforcement of law. What should the next president do with the courts? What should the priorities be for his attorney general? What legislative initiatives are needed to restore fair access to the courts?
One of America's foremost legal scholars, Cass Sunstein is a professor at Harvard Law School and is a visiting professor at The University of Chicago Law School. Previously, Cass clerked for Justice Thurgood Marshall of the U.S. Supreme Court, and served as an attorney-advisor in the Office of Legal Counsel in the Justice Department. Sunstein is also a leading public intellectual, frequently providing expert testimony to Congress, and has worked on constitutional and law reform issues abroad as legal adviser for many nations as they develop democratic institutions. He is an occasional, informal advisor to Obama for America.
Counsel to the President of the United States in July 1970 at age thirty-one, John Dean was Chief Minority Counsel to the Judiciary Committee of the United States House of Representatives, the Associate Director of a law reform commission, and Associate Deputy Attorney General of the United States. He served as Richard Nixon's White House lawyer for a thousand days. He did his undergraduate studies at Colgate University and the College of Wooster. He received a graduate fellowship from American University to study government and the presidency, before entering Georgetown University Law Center, where he received his JD in 1965.
Adam Bonin is a member of the law firm of Cozen O'Connor in Philadelphia. He represents clients in election law and campaign finance matters, including leading progressive bloggers, and Adam been extensively involved on behalf of the rights of online speakers. He also represents international commercial clients in a multibillion-dollar lawsuit against the people, entities and nations that knowingly financed al Qaida before September 11, 2001. Adam chairs the Philadelphia Lawyers chapter of the American Constitution Society, and is a featured writer on the DailyKos frontpage focusing on legal issues. He blogs about pop culture at http://throwingthings.blogspot.com.
Mr. Waldman is a nationally prominent public interest lawyer, government official, teacher and writer. He became director of the Brennan Center in October 2005. He was Director of Speechwriting for President Bill Clinton from 1995-1999, serving as Assistant to the President. He was responsible for writing or editing nearly 2,000 speeches, including four State of the Union speeches and two Inaugural Addresses.
He is the author of several books, including A Return to Common Sense.
