Daylong symposium at Stetson Law tackles political corruption
More than 80 people attended a daylong symposium on Feb. 28 at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Fla., on the topic of political corruption. Taking Stock of Citizens United: How the Law Has (and Has Not) Changed Four Years Later, drew leading national journalists, legal scholars and public interest advocates to the Stetson law school campus for a series of discussions on the threat of political corruption and the importance of an active citizenship.
Professor Lawrence Lessig addresses the symposium audience at Stetson Law. Photo by Kevin James.
Symposium keynote and Harvard Law School professor Lawrence Lessig presented on the need to address corruption in politics in order to maintain a democracy committed to equality.
He constructed a timeline of some of the battles for equal rights in the U.S., from the historic struggle for the right to vote fought by women and blacks to the present-day threats to democracy from corrupt money in politics.
Speaking on the issue of money in politics, Professor Lessig told the audience of scholars, members of the legal profession, and law students, “I am incredibly optimistic that we have a way to get people to see that there is something they can do.”
Symposium panels addressed “Quantifying the Problem of Money in Politics,” “The Risk of Corruption Collides with Free Speech,” and “Making New Rules that Help Taxpayers, Voters, Investors, Employees and Members.”
The Stetson Law Review, the Corporate Reform Coalition, and the American Constitution Society co-sponsored the event.
Post date: Feb. 28, 2014
Media contact: Kate Bradshaw
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