�鶹��Ѱ�����

Professor Scott Skinner-Thompson, center, speaks about key opinions while Professors Doug Spencer and Helen Norton listen.

Legal scholars and practitioners from Colorado Law and Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath highlighted key rulings from the last U.S. Supreme Court term in a panel discussion July 30.

The annual event, hosted by Colorado Law’s Byron R. White Center and Office of Advancement and sponsored by Faegre Drinker, discussed how major opinions impact presidential power, LGBTQ+ rights, birthright citizenship, elections and more.

Moderator Deep Gulasekaram, professor and director of the Byron White Center, emphasized that while the 2024-25 Supreme Court term was historic, the latest term was equally monumental with 66 opinions issued.

The event drew more than 250 local attorneys, faculty, staff, students and community members in person and via .

Panelist Aaron D. Van Oort, partner at Faegre Drinker, described the impacts of Trump v. Slaughter and Trump v. Cook, cases stemming from President Donald Trump’s attempts to fire Rebecca Slaughter from the Federal Trade Commission and Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve Board.

Distinguished Professor Helen Norton, Rothgerber Chair in Constitutional Law, discussed key points of Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, which found that the president does not have the power to impose tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

Panelists included Professor Deep Gulasekaram, Professor Scott Skinner-Thompson, Professor Helen Norton, Professor Doug Spencer and Aaron Van Oort, partner with Faegre Drinker.

Scott Skinner-Thompson, professor and Dean’s Scholar, described the impacts of West Virginia v. B.P.J., which upheld a state ban on transgender girls joining female school athletic teams. He also examined Chiles v. Salazar, which found that Colorado's bans on conversion therapy for minors were subject to strict scrutiny under the First Amendment and remanded to the lower courts to apply that standard.

Gulasekaram talked about the importance of Trump v. Barbara, which reaffirmed birthright citizenship, including for the children of undocumented noncitizens and those on temporary visas.��

The event concluded with Professor Doug Spencer, Rothgerber Chair in Constitutional Law, giving an overview of several cases dealing with federal elections and analyzing the thorny questions that remain following Louisiana v. Callais, in which the court ruled that a Louisiana congressional map creating a second majority-Black district was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.��

In concluding remarks, Spencer offered a hopeful view of what’s ahead for American democracy.��

“I’m not as alarmist as what I read in the news or even from other law professors, that we’re not going to have an election in November or that democracy is dead,” Spencer said. “I think we’re in a period of animated discussion as a country about what it means to be an American.”