Town Halls

Friedrichs v. California Teacher Association - 2:42
Harris v Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission - 10:09
Evenwel v. Abbott - 10:09
Fisher v. University of Texas - 22:29
Whole Womans Health v. Hellerstedt - 35:30
Zubik v Burwell - 46:33
US Army Corps of Engineers v Hawkes - 49:33
United States v Texas - 59:54

In  this tele-town hall, Dr. John C. Eastman and his guests discuss the final opinions of the Court's 2015-16 term. Dr. Eastman moderates the discussion alongside Professor John Yoo, who serves with him on the faculty of Claremont’s summer Fellowships. Professor Yoo is the Emanuel S. Heller Professor of Law at the University of California at Berkeley and a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Prior to teaching, he served as a law clerk for Justice Clarence Thomas, general counsel for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, and assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel. He has authored several books, most recently the edited volume, Liberty’s Nemesis: The Overexpansion of the State.

Joining the panel are three of Claremont's distinguished Fellowship alumni. William Haun, a 2013 John Marshall Fellow, is an associate with Hunton & Williams LLP and soon will serve as a law clerk to Judge Janice Rogers Brown in the D.C. Circuit. Mr. Haun’s practice focuses on antitrust and other complex commercial litigation in state and federal courts throughout the country, but he maintains a lively interest in constitutional law, serving as amici curiae counsel to prominent constitutional law scholars supporting the Little Sisters of the Poor.

Marcella Burke is a 2014 John Marshall Fellow and an associate at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. She recently served as a law clerk to Justice Don Willett on the Supreme Court of Texas. Mrs. Burke’s practice focuses on securities regulation, capital markets transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and other general corporate matters for a variety of companies and funds in the energy industry.

Michael Huston is also a 2014 John Marshall Fellow and an associate at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, where he is a member of the firm’s Appellate and Constitutional Law and Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Groups. Prior to joining the firm, he served as a law clerk to Chief Justice John Roberts and to Judge Raymond M. Kethledge on the 6th Circuit. Mr. Huston has represented clients before the Supreme Court of the United States, multiple United States Courts of Appeals, federal district courts, and federal administrative agencies.

The panel takes up how the Court addressed election law in Harris v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission and Evenwel v. Abbott as well as the Court’s continuing struggle with the Declaration’s principle of the equality of all men in Fisher v. University of Texas. They also discuss the issues surrounding Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, which pitted free speech against the political power of unions. Finally, in a slate of cases that implicate both the power of Congress to write the law and our overreaching bureaucracy, the panelists will tackle Whole Womans Health v. Hellerstedt, Zubik v. Burwell, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes, and United States v. Texas.

Dr. Eastman is the Henry Salvatori Professor of Law & Community Service at Chapman University Fowler School of Law. He served as a law clerk with Justice Clarence Thomas in 1996-97. Dr. Eastman currently serves as the chairman for the National Organization for Marriage.