RALEIGH — Members of the Campbell Law Review hosted “Symposium 2022: The Solutions Manual” on Friday, March 25. The symposium featured renowned speakers from across the country participating in panel discussions on a variety of current legal issues, including the legalization of marijuana, qualified immunity and the non-delegation doctrine. The event was hybrid allowing speakers and attendees the choice to attend the event remotely or in-person at the law school.
The first panel, titled “Solutions to Marijuana Legalization and Criminal Justice Reform,” was moderated by Campbell Law Professor Zachary Bolitho and hosted three experts: Professor Douglas Berman, Professor Melanie Reid and Director Tahid Johnson.
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Professor Douglas Berman of Ohio State’s Moritz College of Law has focused his academic pursuits and teachings on criminal law and criminal sentencing. After graduating law school, he clerked for Chief Judge Jon O. Newman and subsequently, Judge Guido Calabresi, both on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Recently, he published an article in the Arizona State Law Journal titled “Ensuring Marijuana Reform Is Effective Criminal Justice Reform,” and he is also the sole author and creator of the widely credited blog “Sentencing Law and Policy.”
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Professor Melanie Reid serves as the Associate Dean of Faculty and a Professor of Law at Lincoln Memorial University’s Duncan School of Law. A graduate of Notre Dame Law School, Reid has served as a trial attorney in the Narcotics and Dangerous Drug Section with the U.S. Department of Justice, and as a Judicial Clerk for Judge Charles Wilson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. She is a member of the Florida Bar, and her scholarship focuses on the historical scheme of marijuana reform, as well as the racial undertones of marijuana’s initial illegalization. Most recently, she published a piece in the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law titled “Goodbye Marijuana Schedule I-Welcome to A Post-Legalization World,” which discussed the evolution of 4th Amendment jurisprudence that was predicated on the illegality of marijuana.
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Director Tahir Johnson serves as the Director of Social Equity and Inclusion at the U.S. Cannabis Council. A graduate of Howard University, Johnson has been cited by Roz McCarthy as being “a change agent committed to solving industry challenges related to social equity and social justice.” Within his role at the U.S. Cannabis Council, his work addresses policy considerations related to the legalization of marijuana, with a focus on criminal justice reform, de-scheduling marijuana, and the creation of a sound regulatory environment. He is also involved in “The Cannabis Diversity Report,” podcast.
The second panel, titled “Solutions to Qualified Immunity,” was moderated by Campbell Law Professor Michael Kent, and hosted three experts: Professor Fred Smith, Professor Aaron Nielson and Professor Katherine Mims Crocker.
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Professor Fred Smith of Emory University School of Law revolves his teaching around the federal judiciary, constitutional law and local government. He graduated from Harvard University before pursuing his law degree at Stanford Law School. He has served as a judicial clerk for Justice Sonia Sotomayor of the United States Supreme Court; Judge Myron Thompson of the Middle District of Alabama; and Judge Barrington D. Parker Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He also published an article in Columbia Law Review titled “Local Sovereign Immunity.”
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Professor Aaron Nielson of Brigham Young University Law School is an expert in administrative law, civil procedure, federal courts and antitrust. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he has clerked for Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. of the U.S. Supreme Court; Judge Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit; and Judge Janice Rogers Brown of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. His scholarship has been cited by numerous federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, and he published an article in the California Law Review titled “The New Qualified Immunity.”
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Professor Katherine Mims Crocker of William & Mary School of Law specializes in federal courts, constitutional law, state and local government law and property law. After graduating from Harvard University, Crocker attended the University of Virginia School of Law. She has clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court of the United States, and Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Crocker argues for reforms to qualified immunity, as the traditional justifications for qualified immunity are no longer applicable. Her article, “Qualified Immunity, Sovereign Immunity, and Systemic Reform,” is forthcoming in Duke Law Journal.
The third panel, titled “Solutions to the Non-Delegation Doctrine,” was moderated by Campbell Law Professor Tony Ghiotto, and hosted three experts: Professor David Schoenbrod, Professor Michael Rappaport and Professor Sidney Shapiro.
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Professor David Schoenbrod of New York Law School aimed to address the foundation of our government’s ideal — consent of the governed. Schoenbrod initially focused on the field of environmental law, but he is also an accomplished author. His latest publication, “DC Confidential: Inside the Five Tricks of Washington,” discusses the lack of accountability for politicians. He also recently published an article in the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy titled “Consent of the Governed: A Constitutional Norm That the Court Should Substantially Enforce.”
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Professor Michael Rappaport of the University of San Diego School of Law is an expert in the realms of constitutional law, constitutional interpretation, administrative law and comparative constitutional law. Rappaport worked in the Office of Legal Counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice and practiced appellate law before pursuing academia. He clerked for Judge Dolores Sloviter of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Rappaport also currently serves as Director of the Center for the Study of Constitutional Originalism, and he is the founder of the Originalism Blog. He also recently published an article in the San Diego Legal Studies Journal, titled “A Two Tiered and Categorical Approach to the Nondelegation Doctrine.”
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Professor Sidney Shapiro of Wake Forest Law School is an expert in administrative law, environmental law and justice, federal courts and legislation and regulation. Additionally, Shapiro has authored textbooks on administrative procedure and regulatory policy. He is the Vice-President of the Center for Progressive Reform, a nonprofit research and educational organization of university-affiliated academics. He also published an article in the Lewis and Clark Law Journal, titled “Law, Expertise, and Rulemaking Legitimacy: Revisiting the Reformation.”
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