Notre Dame Law Review

On November 14th the Notre Dame Law Review, in conjunction with the Notre Dame Program on Constitutional Structure, hosted its annual Symposium. This year’s Symposium was titled The Treaty Power After Bond v. United States: Interpretative and Constitutional Constraints.

In Bond, Carol Bond was prosecuted under the Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Act for using a “chemical weapon” when she tried to poison her neighbor. Chief Justice Roberts’s majority opinion concluded that the term “chemical weapon” does not reach domestic simple assaults. Justice Scalia, who concurred in the judgment, would have concluded that the Act implementing the Chemical Weapons Convention went beyond the scope of Congress’s Article I powers and was therefore unconstitutional.

Three panels of legal scholars addressed the questions that remain after the Supreme Court’s decision. The first panel included Professor Duncan B. Hollis from Temple University Beasley School of Law, Professor Saikrishna B. Prakash from the University of Virginia School of Law, and Professor Michael D. Ramsey from the University of San Diego School of Law.

The second panel encompassed Professor Julian G. Ku from Hofstra University School of Law, Professor David L. Sloss from Santa Clara University School of Law, and Professor Paul B. Stephan from the University of Virginia School of Law.

The third and final panel included Professor Roger P. Alford from Notre Dame Law School, Professor Edward T. Swaine from George Washington University Law School, and Professor Ingrid B. Wuerth from Vanderbilt University Law School.

The Notre Dame Law Review was proud to host all of these excellent scholars as well as our Keynote Speaker, Mr. Paul D. Clement, partner at Bancroft PLLC and lead counsel for Carol Bond before the Supreme Court. From June 2005 through June 2008, Mr. Clement served as the 43rd Solicitor General of the United States. Before his confirmation as Solicitor General, Mr. Clement served as Acting Solicitor General for over three years. He has argued more than 75 cases before the Supreme Court, making him the lawyer with the most Supreme Court appearances since 2000.

We look forward to publishing the panelists’ presented papers in Issue 4 of Volume 90, due out in Spring 2015.