Experts to discuss election issues Oct. 24 at law school

October 21, 2011

As Virginia prepares for local elections Nov. 8 and the 2012 national elections, the University of Richmond School of Law will host a panel of elected officials and election experts to discuss election issues Oct. 24, 6 p.m., in Ukrop Auditorium of Queally Hall.

Discussions will range from voting rights and access to redistricting and the Constitution. The program is free and open to the public and will be followed by a reception in the School of Law atrium.

Panelists will include:

  • State Sen. Henry L. Marsh III, will discuss the history of voting rights and access in Virginia. Marsh is serving his fifth term in the Virginia Senate. A lawyer for 40 years, he has been involved in some of the most important civil rights cases in Virginia and the United States.
  • Del. Jennifer McClellan, a member of the Virginia House since 2005, will speak about Virginia redistricting. McClellan is a member of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus and vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus. She is assistant general counsel, Mid-Atlantic South, for Verizon Communications
  • J. Gerald Hebert, executive director and director of litigation at the Campaign Legal Center in Washington, D.C., will speak about national redistricting. Hebert formerly worked for the Justice Department as lead attorney on numerous voting rights and redistricting lawsuits and as chief trial counsel on more than 100 voting rights lawsuits, some of which were decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. He has taught election law and published a number of articles on redistricting and the Voting Rights Act.
  • Kent Willis, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, will speak about voting rights and access.
  • John "Jack" Hardin Young of Sandler, Reiff, Young and Lamb in Washington, D.C., an electoral recount and dispute resolution lawyer, will discuss Constitutional issues. He is an adjunct professor at William and Mary School of Law, teaching comparative election law, election dispute resolution, redistricting and public participation in the electoral process.

John Pagan, University of Richmond law professor, will moderate. Pagan is a former dean of the law school and former Arkansas state senator.

The panel discussion is sponsored by the American Constitution Society, the university’s Black Law Students Association, Metro Richmond Area Young Democrats and BarBri. For more information, contact Jessica Haddad at 804-287-1855.

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