Spring Symposium
Looking Back: The Legacy of the Dred Scott Decision
Friday, March 2, 2007 | 8:30a–12:30p
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Co-hosted by: Northern Kentucky Law Review and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
No case that the Supreme Court of the United States has ever decided has had a greater effect on American law, history, society, and race relations than its 1856 decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford. This decision, denying citizenship to African-Americans and overruling the exclusion of slavery from the free territories, was a major cause of the Civil War, and its consequences did not end there. The symposium will look back at the legacy of this important case over the time that has passed up to the present day along legal, historical, political, and social dimensions. It is being co-hosted with the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati and will be held at the Freedom Center’s Harriet Tubman Theater.
Five panelists will be featured, including Dr. Roberta Alexander, former professor and director of the Prelaw Program at the University of Dayton; Professor Mark Graber of the University of Maryland School of Law; the Honorable Nathaniel Jones, former Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit; Chase adjunct professor David Singleton, executive director of the Ohio Justice and Policy Center;and Chase professor John Valauri, symposium advisor. Each panelist will focus on a different aspect of the Dred Scott decision.
Judge Jones will discuss the case in general, and historical and contemporary implications. Dr. Alexander will discuss historical implications on politics at the time of the decision, and Singleton will discuss the contemporary problems with the Cincinnati school system. Professors Graber and Valauri will focus on constitutional interpretations.
There is no registration fee, and three (3) CLE credits will be available for Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana (approval pending).
For more information or to register, e-mail Spring Symposium Editor Faith Isenhath: isenhathf1@nku.edu.
| Program Schedule | |
|---|---|
| 8:30a–9:00a | Registration |
| 9:00a–9:15a | Introduction (no CLE credit) Dennis R. Honabach, Dean |
| First Panel Discussion: Dred Scott and its Constitutional Implications | |
| 9:15a–9:40a | No Better Than They Deserve: Constitutional Democracy and Dred Scott Professor Mark Graber |
| 9:40a–10:05a | Dred Scott, Lincoln, and the Constitution Professor John Valauri |
| 10:05a–10:35a | Discussion and Questions |
| 10:35a–10:50a | Break |
| Second Panel Discussion: Dred Scott in History and Contemporary Times | |
| 10:50a–11:15a | Historical and Contemporary Highlights Judge Nathaniel R. Jones, Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (Retired) |
| 11:15a–11:40a | Dred Scott: The Decision that Sparked a Civil War Dr. Roberta S. Alexander |
| 11:40a–12:05p | Contemporary Focus on Cincinnati Schools Adjunct Professor David Singleton Executive Director of the Ohio Justice & Policy Center |
| 12:05p–12:30p | Discussion and Questions |
| 12:30p | Closing Remarks (no CLE credit) |