Town & Gown Dinner Symposium with Time Magazine's David Von Drehle

To kick off the Kinder Forum’s Town & Gown Dinner Symposium Series, Time magazine Editor-at-Large David Von Drehle gave a talk on the still-evolving legacy of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. Von Drehle highlighted Roberts’ concerted and increasingly successful efforts to dial back the Court’s presence in American political life following the controversial 2000 Bush v. Gore ruling. Under Roberts’ guidance, Von Drehle noted, the justices have productively narrowed the scope of many of their opinions, and the Court as a whole has been uniquely measured using its authority. Von Drehle concluded, though, by posing the question of how long this relative quiet will last. Looking forward to the next term, he pointed to the pending Elonis v. United States challenge–a case which will define First Amendment rights within the context of internet threats–as an instance in which the high court will be called upon to assume a place at the center of public life and clarify a legal issue with which lower courts have long struggled. A Q&A followed the lecture, which was held at Umbria Rustic Italian in the heart of downtown Columbia.

A video of the lecture can be found here.