Open Minds: The Student Events Podcast

For nearly forty years, conservative-backed ALEC has secretively disseminated model laws to its network of more than 2,000 state legislators -- resulting in a weakened democracy and increased big-business dominance in American public life. Now, progressives are coming together to build the state and local political infrastructure necessary to support working families and the middle class, promote sustainability, and revitalize democracy. The American Legislative and Issue Campaign Exchange, or ALICE, is a small but vital piece of this infrastructure.

Joel Rogers is professor of law, political science, public affairs and sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of COWS, the national strategy center for high road development and governance. He has written widely on American politics and democratic theory (e.g., On Democracy, Right Turn, Associations and Democracy, Metro Futures, Works Councils, Working Capital, What Workers Want, The Forgotten Majority), advised many politicians and governments, and helped found and operate several progressive NGOs (e.g., Center for a New Democracy, New Party, Economic Analysis Research Network, Apollo Alliance, Emerald Cities Collaborative, and, most recently, ALICE). A MacArthur Foundation fellow, Newsweek identifies him as one of the 100 living Americans most likely to shape U.S. politics and culture in the 21st century.

ALICE is an online public library of progressive state and local legislation written by citizens, including law students and professors at schools around the country. It brings together both “exemplary” laws (those introduced or enacted somewhere and worthy of replication) as well as “model” laws (those with suggested general language, ready to be tailored to a particular jurisdiction). There’s also background research, talking points, and other aids for effective communication. ALICE founder and executive director Joel Rogers will speak on how students can help ALICE promote a progressive agenda for states and cities.

This talk was sponsored by the American Constitution Society and recorded on February 27, 2013.

The Exoneration Project presents "Convicting the Innocent: Addressing Wrongful Convictions in Cook County, Illinois"

The criminal justice system is imperfect, and Chicago's courts are no exception. Join us as students, alumni and clients of the Exoneration Project discuss the Project's efforts to investigate and litigate the problem of wrongful convictions in Cook County, Illinois. 

The panel included:

• Tara Thompson, '03, Staff Attorney, Exoneration Project
• Harold Richardson and James Kluppelberg, Exoneration Project c
• Charlotte Castillo, '14
• Karl Leonard, '09

This talk was recorded on February 26, 2013.

Professor Harvey Mansfield is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Government at Harvard University. He received his AB and his PhD from Harvard University and has taught at Harvard since 1962. Professor Mansfield is a preeminent scholar of political philosophy and government, having written on or translated works by Aristotle, Edmund Burke, Thomas Hobbes, and Alexis de Tocqueville. He has received numerous awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, the National Humanities Medal, and the Sidney Hook Memorial Award.

Bigelow Fellow Vince Buccola provided commentary.

This talk was recorded on February 18, 2013, and sponsored by the Federalist Society.

Professor Randy Barnett is the Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Legal Theory at the Georgetown University Law Center. After getting his bachelor's from Northwestern University and his law degree from Harvard Law School, Professor Barnett was a prosecutor in the Cook County States' Attorney's Office. He then took several academic positions before coming to GULC in 2006. Professor Barnett is also a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. In 2004, he argued the case of Gonzales v Raich before the Supreme Court after winning in the Ninth Circuit. His books include The Structure of Liberty and Restoring the Lost Constitution.