On Sunday, June 21 at 3 pm Eastern Time, Professor Eric Berger will our guest for a Casual Conversation on Zoom. He comes to us courtesy of the efforts of classmate Steve Horwitz who also was our agent in obtaining the participation of Harvard Professor Danielle Allen for our last Casual Conversation on the Declaration of Independence.
Professor Berger is the Earl Dunlap Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Nebraska. His faculty bio, at Eric Berger | College of Law | Nebraska , includes this information:
Professor Eric Berger joined the faculty in 2007. He received his B.A. with Honors in History from Brown University, and his J.D. from Columbia Law School, where he was a Kent Scholar and an Articles Editor on the Columbia Law Review. After law school, Professor Berger clerked for the Honorable Merrick B. Garland on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He then practiced in Jenner & Block's Washington, D.C. office, where he worked on litigation in several state and federal trial and appellate courts, including the United States Supreme Court. Professor Berger's matters there included cases involving lethal injection, same-sex marriage, the detention of foreign nationals at Guantanamo Bay, and internet obscenity. . . .
Professor Berger's scholarship focuses on constitutional law. Much of his work explores judicial decision making in constitutional cases, with special attention to deference, fact finding, rhetorical strategies, and other under-theorized factors that help shape judicial opinions in constitutional cases. . . .
Professor Berger has testified in the Nebraska legislature about a variety of issues, including free speech, lethal injection, administrative procedures, and the process for amending the U.S. Constitution. He is also the faculty advisor to the Law College's chapter of the American Constitution Society and to the Community Legal Education Project, which sends law students into Lincoln schools and community centers to teach about the Constitution.
His expertise extends broadly across the legal landscape and will provide many different legal policy grains as grist for our discussion mill, so bring your questions.
Steve recommends that we watch one of Professor Berger’s courses on Wondrium/The Great Courses. Again from Professor Berger’s faculty listing: “The Constitution Through U.S. History (2022), is a twenty-four lecture course exploring the role of constitutional issues in American political, social, and cultural history from the founding to the present.”
I just bought his course. Yesterday it was $40; last week it was $33.99; today it was $30. Who knows how much it will be tomorrow given what appears to be the dynamic pricing model of Wondrium/The Great Courses. But please buy it and take the time to watch his 24 half-hour lectures. (His short online intro is free, which should encourage you to obtain the course.)
But whether or not you buy the course (or use your Wondrium streaming account to watch it), plan on joining us on June 21 at 3 pm. There is no better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than to stretch your mind and challenge your assumptions.
Usual rules apply. If you plan on attending let me know by the close of business the Friday before by emailing me at arthur.fergenson@ansalaw.com .
Arthur Fergenson