The M. Margaret McKeown Federal Bar Association in partnership with the Berkeley Judicial Institute along with American Board of Trial Advocates and the Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society will host a discussion entitled: “Stress and Duress: Past and Present Challenges to the Judicial Branch.”

Wednesday, July 16th in person at the U.S. District Courthouse, 700 Stewart Street, Seattle, 19th Floor (zoom option available)

Doors open at 2:30 p.m.

Event begins at 3:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. A wine and cheese reception to follow in the Jury Assembly Room. Registration link provided in the attached flyer.

Event description:

Presidential speeches, threats of (and actual) impeachment, court packing plans, and other efforts to diminish the role of judges all have been part of judicial history. Recently, swatting, pizza deliveries, and unrestrained social media rhetoric have been added to the list. Join our distinguished panel as we look at historical and current challenges to the judiciary and their very real impact on judges and the rule of law. Is what we are experiencing now qualitatively or quantitatively different from what occurred in the past? And how has the quest for justice been affected?

Faculty:

Hon. J. Michelle Childs: Judge Childs serves on the bench of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She is the most recent past President of the Federal Judges Association, and has herself been the recipient of an unsolicited and “alarming” pizza delivery to her home. In 2010, she was appointed to the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina until her appointment to the D.C. Circuit. Judge Childs is a member of the ABA Administrative Law Council, a fellow in the Litigation Section, and a member of the Committee on the American Judicial System. Formerly, she was the Chair of the American Bar Association’s Judicial Division and the Secretary of the American Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Section. She is also a member of the American Law Institute and its Council, having served as an Advisor to the Restatement (Third) of Employment Law. And she recently joined the 2022 class of Rodel Judicial Fellows.

Prof. Michael Gerhardt: Prof. Gerhardt serves as the Burton Craige Distinguished Professor of Jurisprudence at UNC Law School and recently was elected Chair of the UNC faculty as a whole. Gerhardt is the author of nine books and leading treatises on impeachment, appointments, presidential power, Supreme Court precedent, and separation of powers. He has written more than a hundred law review articles and dozens of op-eds in the nation’s leading news publications, including SCOTUSblog, The New York Times, and Washington Post. Prof. Gerhardt has testified more than 20 times before Congress, including during the Clinton impeachment proceedings and was called by the House Judiciary Committee during President Trump’s impeachment proceedings. Prof. Gerhardt has served as an impeachment expert and commentator for CNN, Fox, and MSNBC.

Prof. Marin Levy: Prof. Levy is a law professor at Duke Law School. She is currently the Faculty Director of the Bolch Judicial Institute and previously served as the Director of Duke’s Program in Public Law. Her work has been published in the Yale Law Journal, University of Chicago Law Review, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Cornell Law Review, and California Law Review, among other scholarly journals, and has been discussed in The New York Times, Washington Post, Atlantic, and other public outlets. She has testified before Congress and the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States.

Moderator: Hon. Jeremy Fogel. Judge Jeremy Fogel serves as the Executive Director of the Berkeley Judicial Institute, a center at Berkeley Law School whose mission is to build bridges between judges and academics and to promote an ethical, resilient and independent judiciary. Prior to his appointment at Berkeley, he served as Director of the Federal Judicial Center in Washington, DC (2011-2018), as a United States District Judge for the Northern District of California (1998-2011), and as a judge of the Santa Clara County Superior (1986-1998) and Municipal (1981-1986) Courts. He was the founding Directing Attorney of the Mental Health Advocacy Project from 1978 to 1981.

Registration link: STRESS AND DURESS program.pdf