Chief justice to field questions at business school
This is the first visit for the justice to the University
John G. Roberts, Jr., will answer questions from students at the Vickers Memorial Lecture and also judge a ‘Moot Court’ competition.
By Francesca Chambers (Contact)
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008
Four KU students will receive the opportunity to question the Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., about his policies and possible Supreme Court cases this evening at the business school’s annual Vickers Memorial Lecture.
Two business students and two law students were selected by their the professors to ask the Chief Justice questions submitted by their peers. The students will also be allowed to ask a few of their own questions.
Peter Curzon, Phoenix senior, and a business student who will question Roberts, said he would ask Roberts what role the Supreme Court would play in regulating interstate commerce through the Internet.
Curzon said he was specifically interested in finding out how the court would regulate Web sites’ abilities to use spyware on their users. Curzon said he expected this practice to be challenged in the Supreme Court in the future.
Roberts, who was appointed to the Supreme Court to the Chief Justice position by George W. Bush in 2005, is the first Chief Justice to visit the University of Kansas. Roberts will also visit several business and law classes Thursday morning before judging the final round of the law school’s “Moot Court” competition.
Steve McAllister, a professor of law and a former law clerk for Justice Clarence Thomas, said the University caught Roberts at a good time because Roberts was early in his tenure and still enthusiastic about visiting schools.
“He just comes across as a very engaging, personable fellow who I think people will really like and students will really enjoy,” McAllister said.
McAllister said he would ask Roberts how it felt to take his boss’s place and how his court differed from former Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist’s court. Roberts clerked for Rehnquist from 1980-1981 when Rehnquist was the Associate Justice.
Annie VanAllen, Clearwater junior and a business student who will also question Roberts, said she was unsure what she would ask the Chief Justice because she would serve as the voice of the business school. She said being selected for such an honor was very humbling.
The Vickers Memorial Lecture will begin at 6 p.m. at the Lied Center tonight. People who do not have tickets can watch the lecture live from Budig Hall Room 120. People who plan to watch the lecture at Budig are advised to arrive when the doors open at 5 p.m. as seats are first come first serve.
The Vickers Memorial Lecture has been given at the University since 1969. The lecture is named after J.A. Vickers, a business alumnus and owner of Vickers Petroleum Co., and Vickers’ son, Robert.
“It’s an incredible opportunity that I feel very very blessed to have,” Van Allen said.
McAllister, who served on a committee with Roberts once, also said he was looking forward to becoming better acquainted with the Chief Justice during his visit.
McAllister said he and Roberts had several mutual friends, which helped McAllister persuade the Chief Justice to visit the University. McAllister has also hosted Associate Justice Antoin Scalia’s visit to the University’s study abroad program in Turkey in 2005 and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s visit to the program in 2006.
Two law students, Adam Davis and Bella Truong, will also question Roberts at this evening’s lecture at The Lied Center.
The lecture will begin at 6 p.m., but people will not be admitted into the theater after 5:45 p.m. Tickets for the event are sold out, and empty seats will not be given away.
People who do not have tickets can watch the lecture live from Budig Hall Room 120. People will be admitted into the room on a first come first serve basis. Those who plan to watch the lecture at Budig are advised to arrive when the doors open at 5 p.m.
>— Edited by Matt Hirschfeld
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