Professor Eric Berger presented “Eighth Amendment Norms and the Lethal Injection Stalemate” at DePaul University College of Law, the Ninth Annual Loyola Constitutional Colloquium at the Loyola University Chicago School of Law, and the Nebraska State Bar Association Annual Meeting. During the presentations, Professor Berger examined the ways in which popular views about the death penalty and the Eighth Amendment have obstructed states’ ability to carry out executions by lethal injection, even though courts have usually upheld such execution protocols against Eighth Amendment challenges. In other words, it examines the extent to which popular constitutional norms sometimes shapes events on the ground more than judicial decisions.
Professor Berger also participated in a panel entitled “Justice Kennedy’s Prose: Style and Substance” at the Georgia State University College of Law conference “The Swing Justice: Reflections on the Career of Justice Anthony Kennedy” in Atlanta, GA. The conference was covered by C-SPAN and featured many of the nation’s leading constitutional scholars.
Professor Berger also gave a presentation about Justice Kennedy’s legacy and the future of the U.S. Supreme Court at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He also participated in a discussion about Justice Kennedy’s legacy at the Law College with his colleague, Professor Rick Duncan.
Professor Berger participated in a city campus panel discussion regarding the creation of safe, civil learning environments that are consistent with the tenets of free speech. The panel, entitled “Dignity, Safety, and Free Speech: A conversation about freedom of expression on college campuses and beyond,” was presented by the Lied Center for Performing Arts and also included Hunter Traynor, UNL Student Body President and Student Regent (moderator); David Moshman, President of AFCON (Academic Freedom Coalition of Nebraska) and Professor Emeritus in Educational Psychology at UNL; Ibraheem Hamzat, UNL Student and ASUN Senator; and Ashlee Young, Emerging Leaders Coordinator at the First-Year Experience & Transition Program.