Safeguarding the Structural Constitution: Federalism and the Separation of Powers (Justice Thomas’s Thirty-Year Legacy on the Court)

On October 21, 2021, the Gray Center and the Heritage Foundation co-hosted a special event to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the confirmation of Justice Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court of the United States. This event, consisting of a daytime law symposium and evening lecture, brought together jurists, legal academics and practitioners, including many of the Justice’s former clerks, where we discussed his jurisprudence and impact on the Court over the past three decades.

The first panel focused on the structural constitution, including the concepts of federalism and the separation of powers. It included a discussion featuring: William Pryor Jr., Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit; Edith Jones, Circuit Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit; Neomi Rao, Gray Center Founder and Circuit Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and Thomas Hardiman, Circuit Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. It was moderated by John Yoo, Professor of Law at UC Berkeley School of Law.

This episode features The Honorable Thomas M. Hardiman, The Honorable Edith H. Jones, The Honorable William H. Pryor, Jr., The Honorable Neomi Rao, and John Yoo.