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Institute Hosts Ralph Nader

SEPTEMBER 2009-Attorney and political activist Ralph Nader will present “Law School, Law Firms and the Corporate Supremacists: The Struggle for Justice” at the University of Minnesota Law School on Sept. 30, 2009. The lecture will be in Room 25 of Mondale Hall from 12:15-1:15 p.m. Overflow seating will be provided in Rooms 30 and 50. The lecture will be recorded and posted to the Law School web site at a later date.

The lecture will address the social responsibilities of attorneys and is directed toward students at the Law School and graduate students in the Department of Political Science. It is co-sponsored by the Law School and the Institute for Law and Politics.

Nader, a 1958 graduate of Harvard Law School, launched his lifetime of consumer activism by exposing the unsafe design practices of the automobile industry, and his 1965 book, Unsafe at Any Speed, is credited with being the catalyst for passage of the 1966 National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act.

He was also instrumental in passage of the Freedom of Information Act (1966) and the Wholesome Meat Act (1967) and in creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Occupational Health and Safety Organization, the Disability Rights Center, the Center for the Study of Responsive Law, and many other organizations. In 1990, Life magazine named him one of America’s Top 100 most influential people of the 20th century.

Since then, Nader has remained in the political and activist arenas through his persistent opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement and his four presidential bids (1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008).

The latest of his more than 30 books, Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!, will be released nationally Sept. 22.

Institute Co-Hosts United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas

APRIL 2009—On April 15, the Institute for Law and Politics will co-sponsor a public lecture at the University of Minnesota by United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Please join us for this discussion with a sitting Supreme Court Justice at 3:30 p.m. in Room 175 of Willey Hall on the West Bank of the University of Minnesota campus (Click here for parking and directions).

Due to security and limited seating, RSVPs are required. Please RSVP for the lecture here.