By Matt Clyburn

The Student Center’s Philbrick-Camp Room was nearly full Friday afternoon as students gathered to observe a lecture on the future of the United States Constitution.

The lecture, which had a panel comprised of political science department chair Dr. Paul Petterson and Dr. Robbin Smith, focused on the current composition of the U.S. Supreme Court and the role individual justices play in interpreting the United States Constitution. Petterson presented a unique perspective on the influence Supreme Court staffers can exercise, noting that “Justices increasingly [tend] to choose their clerks, the law students that work for them…from similar ideological backgrounds.”

According to Smith, 11 of the 39 Supreme Court clerks are graduates of Harvard Law School.

A political science major in attendance, Shayne Koplowitz, noted that the lecture “showed a side of the court that’s not often looked at.”

“It was very interesting, especially the aspect of how influential both justices’ clerks and justices’ upbringings can have on jurisprudence,” said Koplowitz.

Smith cited specific cases that are forthcoming for the Supreme Court in which the three female Justices could play an important role, including cases regarding “reverse discrimination.”  Discussing a forthcoming case that challenges discrimination in determining citizenship, Smith shared that “if a U.S. father has a child abroad and he is unmarried, that child is not automatically a U.S. citizen.”  She believes that “having three women on the court may challenge the belief that…fathers are somehow categorically different from mothers.”

Petterson spoke at length about the possible role of Elena Kagan, an Obama appointee and the Court’s newest Justice.  Petterson described that Kagan’s appeal, from a presidential perspective was her reputation as a “persuader.”  Smith added that this potential could be fulfilled if she can capture the attention of Justice Kennedy, a traditional swing vote, and Chief Justice John Roberts, leader of the high court.

A federal law that mandated commemoration of the U.S. Constitution on September 17th was passed in 2004.  The Department of Education clarified this mandate in 2005 to include all educational institutions receiving federal funds of any kind.

Many of the students in attendance were members of Smith’s ‘First Year Experience’ American Government course and were required to sign in for class credit upon departure.