February 14th 2008 • Printer version

Oregon Law Professor Robert Tsai Presents Lecture on Presidential Strategies on Rights at Georgetown University February 21

Oregon Law Professor Robert Tsai will present his paper, "Reconsidering Gobitis: Lessons in Presidential Leadership," at Georgetown University's Faculty Research Workshop on Thursday, Feb. 21 in Washington, D.C.

Tsai's paper attributes dramatic changes in legal reason to the mechanics of linguistic transformation prompted by presidential initiative.  Drawing on archival research from the Library of Congress, Georgetown University Library and Franklin D. Roosevelt's Presidential Library, it also raises several questions regarding the necessary interconnections among judges and other social actors as they build a constitutional vocabulary, the post-war rise of the First Amendment in the public mind, and the benefits and risks of presidential initiative regarding rights. 

Professor Tsai teaches Constitutional Law I, Constitutional Law II and Constitutional Law Seminar courses.  Prior to joining Oregon's faculty, Tsai served as a law clerk for U.S. District Judge Denny Chin, S.D.N.Y., and the Honorable Hugh H. Brownes, U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.  He also attended Yale Law School and edited the Yale Law Journal.  Professor Tsai is the author of "Eloquence and Reason: Creating a First Amendment Culture."  He recently presented "Assessing the Work of George Lakoff," at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law conference.