Ira C. Rothgerber Jr. Conference
The Ira C. Rothgerber Jr. Conference on Constitutional Law is an annual Byron R. White Center event that brings scholars, lawyers, and leaders from across the nation to the University of ֱ Law School to discuss current Constitutional law issue. Topics have included the future of national injunctions, listeners’ First Amendment rights and litigation strategies that promote Constitutional change.
2025Rothgerber Conference
Immigration & National Borders
The 33rdAnnual Ira C. Rothgerber Jr. Conference is on Friday, April 18, 2025from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00p.m. MT
Join the Byron White Center for the 33rd annual Ira C. Rothgerber Conference. This year's theme is "Immigration & National Borders" and will kick off with a keynote by Professor Hiroshi Motomura of UCLA Law. He will be discussing themes from his most recent book, Borders & Belonging: Toward a Fair Immigration Policy.
The conference will have three different panels, featuring the following renowned experts on immigration and border policy:
- T. Alex Aleinikoff (The New School)
- Paulina Arnold (Michigan)
- Ayelet Shachar (Berkeley)
- James Hathaway (Berkeley)
- Juliet Stumpf (Lewis & Clark)
- Stephen Lee (Irvine)
- Cesar Cuautemoc Garcia Hernandez (Ohio State)
- Violeta Chapin (ֱ)
- Lisa Martinez (Denver)
- Dan Tichenor (Oregon)
- Ahilan Arulanantham (UCLA
Please register at this . Lunch will be provided at 12pm and a short reception will follow the conference.
If you have any dietary allergies or requests (vegan, gluten free, nuts, etc), please email lindley.bell@colorado.edu.
SESSIONS TBD
Past conferences
The 32nd Annual Ira C. Rothgerber Jr. Conference: AI and the Constitution, took place on Friday, April 19, 2024 in partnership with Silicon Flatirons Center. The conference mergedthe SiliconFlatirons annual Artificial Intelligence Conference with the White Center’s annual Ira C. Rothgerber Jr. Conference on Constitutional Law. This joint conference examined emerging Constitutional issues implicated by the rapid advances in artificial intelligence.
To read more about the conference, click
Schedule of Events
9:00 a.m. | Opening Remarks
9: 15 a.m. | Keynote
10: 15 a.m. | Panel 1: AI and Privacy
- — University of ֱ Law School
- - Pepperdine Caruso School of Law
- - Georgetown University Law Center
- - George Washington University Law School
- - University of ֱ Law School
11:45 a.m. | Lunch
A catered lunch was provided.
1:00 p.m. | Panel 2: AI and the Interpretation of the U.S. Constitution and Other Legal Documents
- - University of ֱ Law School
- - University of Alabama Law
- - University of Arizona
- - University of ֱ Law School
- - Stanford Law School
2:35 p.m. | Panel 3: AI Speech and The first Amendment
- — University of ֱ Law School
- - Australian Remote Operations for Space and Earth (AROSE)
- - North Carolina Central University School of Law
- - University of ֱ Law School
4:00 p.m. | Closing Remarks
4:05 p.m. | Reception
View a recording of the conference
The 30th Annual Ira C. Rothgerber Conference:Looking Back to Move Forward: Exploring the Legacy of U.S. Slavery, took place virtually on Friday, April 8, 2022, with a special, pre-conferenceperformance of's .
Our community of nationally renowned scholars, lawyers, and leaders gathered for bold, important discussions centered around the themes introduced by The Princeton Fugitive Slave: The Trials of James Collins Johnson written by ֱ Law Dean, Professor Lolita Buckner Inniss.Themes emanating from the book include: institutional complicity and participation in slavery; law and law-like structures that helped to maintain slavery and related forms of servitude; and current impacts and implications of this history.To read more about the conference, click here.
Thursday, April 7, 5:30 - 7 p.m.
In collaboration with theMotus Theater, this years conferencepresents JustUs: Stories from the Frontlines of the Criminal Legal System. Motus JustUs monologists Dereck Bell, Juaquin Mobley, and Colette Payne, will read aloud their powerful autobiographical stories artfully depicting their experiences within the criminal legal system.
Motus Theater Monologists
- Dereck Bell, Juaquin Mobley, and Colette Payne
(Proof of vaccination is required to enter the Dairy Arts Center)
Friday, April 8, 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. | Conference Panel and Speakers
Conference facilitated by: Suzette Malveaux (ֱ Law, director of the Byron R. White Center)
Book Chat with Dean Lolita Buckner Inniss (ֱ Law) and Professor Hilary Green(University of Alabama)
Roundtable:The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre; The Quest for Accountability
- Moderator: Professor Suzette Malveaux(ֱ Law)
- Professor Eric Miller (Loyola Law School),Professor Emerita Adjoa Ayietoro (William H. Bowen School of Law), Reverend Robert Turner (former pastor of Historic AME Church in Tulsa),Damario Solomon-Simmons, Esq. (Solomon Simmons Law)
Panel 1:Institutional Complicity in U.S. Slavery; the Role of the Judiciary and Higher Education
- Moderator: Erin Vanek (ֱ Law '22)
- Professor Michael Higginbotham(University of Baltimore Law School), ProfessorBrian Mitchell (University of Arkansas at Little Rock), Professor Christopher Mathis (University of Iowa College of Law - visiting)
Lunch Break (Food provided by ֱ Law)
Panel 2: Vestiges of Slavery in the Criminal Justice System
- Moderator: Professor Ben Levin (ֱ Law)
- Professor JackChin (UC Davis School of Law),Professor Sunita Patel (UCLA School of Law),Professor Monica Bell (Yale Law),Robert Saleem Holbrook (Executive Director of the Abolition Law Center, Penn Law)
Panel 3: Bringing It Home: How Slavery Impacts Property and Land Ownership in ֱ Today
- Moderator: Sam McCarthy (ֱ Law '23)
- Professor Tom Romero (University of Denver Sturm College of Law),Councilwoman Candi CdeBaca (Denver District 9),Rita R. Lewis (former Executive Director- Denver Metro Fair Housing Center)
Eight general CLE credits are approved for ֱ attorneys.
The 29th Annual Ira C. Rothgerber Conference:Pursuing Citizenship, took place virtually on Friday, April 9, 2021, with a special, pre-conferenceperformance of's .
This year's conferencebuiltupon ֱ Law ProfessorMing Hsu Chen's new book,Pursuing Citizenship in the Enforcement Era, in which she argues that the citizen/alien binary should instead be reframed as a spectrum of citizenship, a concept that emphasizes continuities between the otherwise distinct experiences of membership and belonging for immigrants seeking to become citizens. In addition, citizenship consists of economic, social, political, and legal dimensions; the modern era of intense immigration enforcement distorts the balance and produces a sense of citizenship insecurity. This conference charted a broad conception of citizenship, putting the law in its social context, and explored its inextricable relationship to immigration enforcement in the modern era.To read more about the conference, .
Motus Theater’s Undocumonologues
Motus Theaterpresented UndocuMonologues, which weaves together autobiographical monologues from undocumented writers, interwoven with the music of Elisa Garcia. Story themes include the threat of deportation, the injustice of being sent into exile from the country in which you were raised, border patrol, the current human and civil rights threats to immigrants, and racial profiling.
Two monologues wereperformed by the writers themselves, while the third wasreadaloudby specialguest, theHonorable Mimi Tsankov, National Associationof Immigration Judges, whoreflected upon herexperience connecting with that story. The eventconcluded with a 20 minute talk-back, where audience membersreflected on their experience and posed questions to those involved.For more information about Motus Theater and how to get involved, please visit: .
2021 Conference Panels & Panelists
Opening:Ming Hsu Chen (ֱ Law), author of Pursuing Citizenship in the Enforcement Erain conversation with Hiroshi Motomura (UCLA School of Law)
Panel 1: Citizenship Theory Beyond Legal Status
- Moderator:Seema Sohi (Ethnic Studies, University of ֱ Boulder)
- Niambi Carter(Political Science, Howard University),Elizabeth Cohen (Political Science, Syracuse University),Allen Colbern (Political Science, Arizona State University),Amanda Frost (Washington College of Law).
Lunchtime Panel: Stories of Immigrants
- Moderator:Violeta Chapin (Clinical Faculty, ֱ Law)
- Salvador Hernandez (ֱ State Director, Mi Familia Vota),Alan Sanchez (ֱ Alumni), Shiyan Zhang (ֱ Alumni).
Panel 2: Citizenship, Integration, and Belonging
- Moderator:David Cook-Martin (Sociology, University of ֱ Boulder)
- Tomas Jimenez (Sociology,Stanford), Cristina Rodriguez (Yale Law School), Stella Burch Elias (University of Iowa College of Law), Shannon Gleeson (Labor Relations, Law & History, Cornell),Xóchitl Bada (Latin American and Latino Studies,University of Illinois at Chicago).
Panel 3: Noncitizens, Exclusion, and Enforcement
- Moderator:Hunter Knapp (Postdoctoral fellow, University of ֱ Law)
- Adam Goodman (Latin American and Latino Studies, University of Illinois at Chicago), Rebecca Hamlin (Political Science, University of Massachusetts at Amherst), Laura Lunn (Detention Program Managing Attorney, Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network), Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia (Penn State Law).
Opening, Panel 1 & Lunch Panel[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmJaoQ5TcXA]
Panel 2[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By8F7STK2Ns]
Panel 3[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy7FoSCe9Ug]
The 28th Annual Ira C. Rothgerber Conference took place on April 3, 2020. This year's conference focused on the topic "Women’s Enfranchisement: Beyond the 19th Amendment". 2020 markedthe centennial of the 19th Amendment, formally extending suffrage to some, but not all, women, and is a presidential election year with an unprecedented number of female candidates running for national and local offices. But barriers to both political rights and social, lived equality persist, particularly for women at the intersections of race, sex, and class. The 28th Annual Ira C. Rothgerber Conference used the centennial to take stock of how far we’ve come—and how far we have to go—in terms of formal political enfranchisement as well as the social and economic empowerment of women more broadly.
Motus Theater’s Undocumonologues
Motus Theaterpresented UndocuMonologues, which weaves together autobiographical monologues from undocumented writers, interwoven with the music of Elisa Garcia. Story themes include the threat of deportation, the injustice of being sent into exile from the country in which you were raised, border patrol, the current human and civil rights threats to immigrants, and racial profiling.
Two monologues wereperformed by the writers themselves, while the third wasreadaloudby specialguest, theHonorable Mimi Tsankov, National Associationof Immigration Judges, whoreflected upon herexperience connecting with that story. The eventconcluded with a 20 minute talk-back, where audience membersreflected on their experience and posed questions to those involved.For more information about Motus Theater and how to get involved, please visit: .
2021 Conference Panels & Panelists
Introductory Remarks by Suzette Malveaux and Keynote Address byReva Siegel (Yale Law)
Panel 1: “Historical Perspectives on the Nineteenth Amendment: Looking Back,Looking Forward”
- Prof. Carolyn Ramsey (ֱ Law)
- Prof. Julie Suk (ֱNY, Graduate Center)
- Prof. Mary Ziegler (Florida State Univ. Law)
- Prof. SusanSchulten(University of Denver, History)
Panel 2: “Barriers to Political Representation”
- Prof.DaraStolovitch(Princeton,Gender & Sexuality Studies)
- Prof.AtibaEllis (Marquette Law)
- Prof.BertrallRoss (Berkeley Law)
- Prof. Justin Levitt (Loyola Law)
- Prof. Ming Chen (ֱ Law)
Panel 3 “Lived Equality: Beyond Formal Political Rights”
- Prof. Aya Gruber (ֱ Law)
- ChinyereEzie(Staff Attorney, Center for Constitutional Rights)
- Diana Flynn (Litigation Director, Lamda Legal)
- Prof. Cary Franklin (Univ. Texas Law)
- Prof. Scott Skinner-Thompson (ֱ Law)
Introductory Remarks & Keynote Address[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R43EesUpIb0&list=PLwFq2GL-i5UjDHrDLVBzsvq439NVkDKDi&index=2]
Panel 1[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4xdEGNY9XI&list=PLwFq2GL-i5UjDHrDLVBzsvq439NVkDKDi&index=3]
Panel 2[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NR_fParT3k&list=PLwFq2GL-i5UjDHrDLVBzsvq439NVkDKDi&index=4]
Panel 3[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjsj2kA9S7w&list=PLwFq2GL-i5UjDHrDLVBzsvq439NVkDKDi&index=5]
The 27th Annual Rothgerber Conference took place Friday, April 5, 2019, and was open to the public. This year's conference focused on the topic, "National Injunctions: What Does the Future Hold?", and featured an exciting panel of diverse scholars, with remarks by Phil Weiser, ֱ Attorney General; and Professor Suzette Malveaux, University of ֱ Law School.
Introductory Remarks (ֱ Attorney General Phil Weiser and Professor Suzette Malveaux)
Panel I - Court Authority and Policy Considerations
- Professor Alan Trammell, Arkansas Law
- Professor Doug Rendleman, W&L Law School of Law
- Professor Suzette Malveaux, ֱ Law
- Professor Charlton Copeland, Miami Law
Panel II - Lessons from Various Models
- David Hausman, Esq., ACLU
- Professor Zachary D. Clopton, Cornell Law
- Professor Michael T. Morley, FSU Law
Panel III - Other Conceptions of National Injunctions
- Professor Ahmed White, ֱ Law
- Professor Howard Wasserman, FIU College of Law
- Professor Portia Pedro, BU Law
- Professor Mila Sohoni, San Diego Law
At the 26th Annual Rothgerber Constitutional Law Conference on Friday, April 13, 2018, speakers from around the U.S. explored a broad range of issues related to listeners’ constitutional interests and rights, including when and why listeners’ interests should matter to First Amendment law, how we might go about determining listeners’ interests, and what to do when listeners’ interests may be in tension with speakers’ interests -- generally or in specific contexts involving speech to voters, consumers, workers, students, information users, shareholders, clients, consumers of the media, and other specific individuals or communities.
Scholarship
- Listeners' Choices, James Grimmelmann
- Limiting the Right to Buy Silence: A Hearer-Centered Approach, Burt Neuborne
- Powerful Speakers and Their Listeners, Helen Norton
- When Audiences Object: Free Speech and Campus Speaker Protests, Gregory P. Magarian
- The MacGuffin and the Net: Taking Internet Listeners Seriously, Derek E. Bambauer
- Press Speakers and the First Amendment Rights of Listeners, RonNell Andersen Jones
- Data Subjects’ Privacy Rights: Regulation of Personal Data Retention and Erasure, Alexander Tsesis
- Commercial Speech Protection as Consumer Protection, Felix T. Wu
The25th Annual Rothgerber Constitutional Law Conferenceaddressed the topic of “Truth, Lies, and the Constitution.” Speakers included:
- ProfessorAlan Chen, University of Denver Sturm College of Law
- Professor Carla Fredericks, University of ֱ School of Law
- Professor David Han, Pepperdine University School of Law
- Professor B. Jessie Hill, Case Western Reserve University School of Law
- Professor Gregory Klass, Georgetown Law School
- Professor Justin Marceau, University of Denver Sturm College of Law
- Professor Helen Norton, University of ֱ School of Law
- Professor Catherine Ross, George Washington University School of Law
- Professor Mark Spottswood, Florida State University College of Law
- Professor James Weinstein, Sandra Day O’Connor Arizona State University College of Law
- Professor Christina Wells, University of Missouri School of Law
Keynote Address
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmcJmj9u6ec&list=PLwFq2GL-i5Uj84QuYlOLXVv9ajQSgqD8A&index=1]
Panel One
[video:https://youtu.be/JJkqOuVTURc]
Panel Two
[video: https://youtu.be/iE_SQSD_J6o]
Panel Three
[video:https://youtu.be/4m3sJU1FneQ]
Scholarship
- James Weinstein
- Catherine J. Ross
- B. Jessie Hill
- Helen Norton
- Carla F. Fredericks & Jesse D. Heibel
- Christina E. Wells
- Mark Spottswood
- David S. Han
- Alan K. Chen & Justin Marceau
- Gregory Klass
The 24th Annual Rothgerber Conference offered attendees the opportunity to recognize the contributions of ֱ Law Professor Robert Nagel to constitutional scholarship over the course of his career. Speakers included:
- Professor Larry Alexander, San Diego Law School
- Professor Paul Campos, University of ֱ Law School
- Professor Mark Tushnet, Harvard Law School
- Dr. Matthew Franck, Director, William E. and Carol G. Simon Center on Religion and the Constitution
- Professor Michael Greve, George Mason University School of Law
- Professor Stephen Presser, Northwestern Law School
- Professor Frederick Schauer, Virginia Law School
[video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-aSKWWFleg]
Panel One
[video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU3cyn60ZPw&index=1&list=PLwFq2GL-i5UincFgfI_AV6ULWk9M6cNcH]
Panel Two
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBCgCfP2V14]
The 23rd Annual Rothgerber Conference, “Presidential Interpretation of the Constitution,” brought academics from around the country to explore the themes raised in Professor Hal Bruff’s recently published Uncommon Ground: How Presidents Interpret the Constitution. Professor Bruff delivered a keynote address. Speakers included:
- Gabrielle Appleby, University of South Wales
- Henry L. Chambers, Jr., Richmond School of Law
- Kathleen Clark, Washington University Law School
- Martin Flaherty, Fordham Law School
- Heidi Kitrosser, University of Minnesota Law School
- David Pozen, Columbia Law School
- Peter Shane, Ohio State University Moritz College of Law
- Kevin Stack, Vanderbilt Law School
- Adam Webster,University of Adelaide, South Australia
At the 22nd Annual Rothgerber Conference, on October 2, 2014, academics and attorneys from around the country gathered to discuss how litigation strategy has pushed and is continuing to push constitutional change. There were three panels during the conference, focusing on these topics: race and constitutional litigation; getting to same-sex marriage; and constitutional litigation and movement identity.
The 21st Annual Rothgerber Conferencefocused on federalismand its impact on the constitutional debates surrounding the legalization of marijuana, gay marriage, gun rights, and immigration. Yale Law School ProfessorHeather Gerkengave the conference's keynote address,entitled "The Political Safeguards of Horizontal Federalism."
The 20th Annual Rothgerber Conference took place in November 2012 and focused on expanding Constitutional literacy to the public. The Conference featured keynote speaker Professor Mark Tushnet of Harvard Law, a prominate advocate in popular constitutionalism.
On November 4-5, 2011, participants in the 19th Annual Rothgerber Conference spoke about “Toward a Constitutional Right of Access to Justice: Implications and Implementation.” The Conference explored the many facets of access to justice, with panelists discussing recent Supreme Court decisions on the civil right to counsel and taxpayer standing; the role of law school clinics, pro bono work and cause lawyering in providing access; and the crisis in funding and other barriers to operationalizing access.
2020 Rothgerber Slideshow
Rothgerber Conference 2019
