A packed auditorium of nearly 500 faculty and students gathered on September 27 to hear The Honorable Anthony M. Kennedy, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, deliver the 2007 Robert P. Anderson Memorial Lecture. Justice Kennedy, appointed to the Supreme Court in 1988 by President Reagan, spoke about “Constitutions: Structures and Rights” as part of the three-day Global Constitutionalism Seminar hosted by the Law School. First-year law student Marisa Van Saanen ’10, who spent the past four years working for the World Bank, shared some of her reflections on the talk. She said she was interested to hear Justice Kennedy’s thoughts on federalism and international law but took special note when his focus shifted to world poverty.

“He spoke of ... the challenges of women and poor people the world over, and the extent to which the poor and marginalized are outside of legal systems and constitutions, the very subject the judges were gathered at the law school to discuss,” Van Saanen said. She then continued, “...his words remain a challenge to me, and I believe to our community—how will our lives as lawyers help to make the world a better and more just place for the poor and marginalized among us?”