Lecture Date
9-17-2015
Description
On this day, over 200 years ago, thirty-nine brave delegates of the Constitutional Convention met for the last time to sign the document they had created, the U.S. Constitution.
This year, Eric Lane, Dean of the Maurice A. Deane School of Law and the Eric J. Schmertz Distinguished Professor of Public Law and Public Service at Hofstra University, gave a presentation, “A Republic If You Can Keep It.” The event was held in the Leo A. Guthart Cultural Center Theater, 1st Floor Axinn Library.
Recommended Citation
Lane, Eric, ""A Republic If You Can Keep It"" (2015). Constitution Day Lectures. 1.
https://scholarlycommons.law.hofstra.edu/lectures_consitutionday/1
2015Constitution Day PLASMA.jpg (705 kB)
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2015 Constitution Day flyer.pdf (378 kB)
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2015 Constitution Day flyer.pdf (378 kB)
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Speaker Information
Eric Lane is the Dean and Eric J. Schmertz Distinguished Professor of Public Law and Public Service at the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University. He joined the Hofstra Law faculty in 1976 and has taught courses in law and literature, constitutional law, statutory interpretation and the legislative process.
Dean Lane is well-known beyond the Hofstra campus for his work in public service. He has previously served as the senior fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law. In that role, he wrote the report (with Meg Barnette) A Report Card on New York's Civic Literacy, which was published in April 2011.
From 2002 to 2005, Dean Lane was special counsel to the speaker of the New York City Council. Prior roles include his service as counsel to the New York Commission on Constitutional Revision, which was created in 1993. In 1990 he chaired the New York City Task Force on Charter Implementation, and from 1986 to 1989, he served as executive director/counsel to the historic New York City Charter Revision Commission, which was responsible for the most substantial changes in the institutions and processes of New York City government since its creation. Dean Lane also spent six years (1981-1986) as chief counsel to the New York State Senate Minority.
Dean Lane is the author of three books. His trade book (with Michael Oreskes, senior managing editor of the Associated Press) The Genius of America: How the Constitution Saved Our Country and Why It Can Again received favorable reviews throughout the country, and his two textbooks (with the Honorable Abner A. Mikva) on the legislative process and statutory interpretation have been used in law schools nationally. He is also the author of often cited articles on the legal framework for governmental decision making.
Dean Lane serves on the boards of the Vera Institute of Justice and the Columbia Land Conservancy. He is also a member of the American Law Institute and the American Bar Foundation.