The Roundtable
Welcome to the Roundtable, JLPP’s online blog featuring student commentary on current cases and legal developments!
If you are interested in becoming a Staff Writer or Contributing Writer for the Roundtable, e-mail Notes Editors Kyle Reynolds (mreynolds@jd18.law.harvard.edu) or Chadwick Harper (charper@jd19.law.harvard.edu).
Justice Thomas Reconceptualizes Civil Rights Laws, and a Recovery of the Original Meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment is Long Overdue – Frank J. Scaturro
Download PDF Justice Thomas Reconceptualizes Civil Rights Laws, and a Recovery of the Original Meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment Is Long Overdue Frank J. Scaturro* The Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College[1] effectively ends race-based affirmative action in university admissions as violations of both Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The extensive commentary that has followed has largely overlooked how a detail...
read moreJohn Bates, Johns Manville, The Boyscouts of America, and Johnson & Johnson – Lawrence A. Friedman
Download PDF JOHN BATES, JOHNS MANVILLE, THE BOYSCOUTS OF AMERICA, AND JOHNSON & JOHNSON Lawrence A. Friedman* The convergence of two cases from half a century ago is allowing trial lawyer vultures to destroy our bankruptcy system in cases involving some of the most storied names in America. The bankruptcy system feels like it is coming apart at the seams. There have been a litany of stories in recent years demonstrating how trial lawyers have turned the bankruptcy process upside down.[1] And I have written before in these pages about...
read moreInterim Final Rules and the APA: Some Rule of Law Problems – Thomas E. Nielsen
Download PDF Interim Final Rules and the APA: Some Rule of Law Problems Thomas E. Nielsen* Introduction Almost a century ago in Crowell v. Benson,[1] Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes highlighted the benefits of delegating certain classes of issues to administrative agencies for “prompt, continuous, expert, and inexpensive” resolution,[2] but cautioned that unfettered agency discretion risked “establish[ing] a government of a bureaucratic character alien to our system.”[3] When Congress enacted the Administrative Procedure Act[4] (APA) in...
read moreHon. Laurence H. Silberman Symposium: His Life and Legacy
JLPP: Per Curiam is proud to present the Hon. Laurence H. Silberman Symposium: His Life and Legacy on October 2, 2023 – the one year anniversary of his passing. The essays in this symposium, authored by several of Judge Silberman’s former law clerks, honor the life and career of Judge Silberman. We hope readers of these essays can learn the valuable lessons that Judge Silberman imparted to his clerks. The essays in this symposium can be accessed at the following links: Remembering the Life and Legacy of Laurence H. Silberman...
read moreJudge Silberman and International Law: A Unified Approach – John Yoo
Download PDF Judge Silberman and International Law: A Unified Approach John Yoo* Judge Laurence Silberman loved ideas. He loved them because he thought most of the good ones were his. The bad ideas must have been those of the other judge for whom I must have clerked. Or so we joked, the Judge and his clerk, over the years as we debated everything from racial preferences (where we had both started out in support but came to consider a mistake) to drug legalization to war powers. While we came from different ends of the earth and went to school...
read moreTwo Lessons From Judge Silberman – David E. Nahmias
Download PDF Two Lessons From Judge Silberman David E. Nahmias* Judge Silberman was for a year my boss and for decades thereafter my mentor and friend. Like so many of his former law clerks, I rarely made a significant decision in my professional or personal life without consulting him. He taught me many lessons, but two have been most important. First, Judge Silberman was a model of intellectual honesty. He had strong opinions on many topics (many, many topics!), but he was always interested in having those opinions challenged and tested. He...
read moreJudge Silberman, Party Presentation, and the Non-Court Court – Judge Eric D. Miller
Download PDF Judge Silberman, Party Presentation, and the Non-Court Court Eric D. Miller* Judge Laurence H. Silberman leaves an extraordinary legacy of public service and contributions to American law, marked most notably by his commitment to the idea of judicial restraint: that the proper role of a judge is limited and that a judge should respect the limitations of that role and not assume powers vested in Congress or the Executive Branch.[1] Judge Silberman summed up his commitment when he said that a judge, in every case, should begin by...
read moreJudge Laurence H. Silberman Symposium Essay – Viet Dinh
Download PDF Judge Laurence H. Silberman Symposium Essay Viet Dinh* “I wanted to be a lawyer from the time I was six years old.”[1] So was launched the career of Laurence H. Silberman, who served faithfully as a public official and, in the best sense of the word, an intellectual. His career spanned private practice, the Department of Justice, an ambassadorship, think tanks and the legal academy, and decades on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He served America in her hour of greatest need as Chair of the Robb-Silberman...
read moreBaloney, Fortuity, and Character – Paul Clement
Download PDF Baloney, Fortuity, and Character Paul Clement* In May 2017, I had the opportunity to interview Judge Silberman for an oral history project being assembled by NYU’s Institute of Judicial Administration. I felt like I had won the lottery. The chance to sit down with Judge Silberman for the better part of a day and ask him questions—talk about role reversal—was too good to pass up. The resulting oral history runs over three hours and spans a remarkable career on and off the bench. It deserves to be savored in full. But in...
read moreCommon Ground with an Uncommonly Good Man: A Tribute to Judge Laurence H. Silberman – Rachel Barkow
Download PDF Common Ground with an Uncommonly Good Man: A Tribute to Judge Laurence H. Silberman Rachel Barkow* The passing of an influential, high-ranking government figure typically brings assessments of their public life and service. But people are so much more than their public acts. When I reflect on the life of Judge Laurence H. Silberman, for whom I clerked more than 25 years ago, what stands out to me is the warmth, mentorship, and friendship he showed me, and so many others, outside the public spotlight. That may seem––and probably...
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