American Constitution Society

The verdict is in. The 2009 ACS National Convention was a smashing success. Thanks to all of the ACS members, supporters, staff and others for making this year's convention, Keeping Faith with the Constitution -- a theme based on the new ACS book -- the best ever. Nearly 1,000 lawyers, judges, law students, and national and state policy leaders were part of more than 20 exciting plenary and breakout panel discussions.

Watch Senator Sheldon Whitehouse on the confirmation process of Judge Sonia Sotomayor here. Whitehouse maintained that, "Broad and diverse life experiences can make for better judgment and truer justice, and we should celebrate a nominee who would bring these qualities to the bench."

Watch Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm's address to the 2009 ACS Convention here. Granholm said, "When you execute the law, you really don't have the luxury of ignoring the impacts on people who are struggling out there, but neither should you ignore them, of course, when you are interpreting the law."

Watch Senator Amy Klobuchar's speech here. Klobuchar, also addressing the qualities of judges, said, "In the end we evaluate these judges based on their experience. Intellectual curiosity and independence, not rigidity, are the hallmarks of our best justices. And that's what we should be looking for in a good justice."

Watch Harvard Professor Elizabeth Warren's speech here. Warren, addressing new financial regulations, said, "Economic change - good, boring Consumer Financial Protection Agency kind of change - keeps faith with those who don't want to live in a jungle where the powerful take what they want. It lets us keep the faith with those who work hard and play by the rules, and who just want a chance to be treated fairly."

Pam Karlan, Stanford Law professor and co-author of Keeping Faith with the Constitution, concluded the 2009 ACS Convention with a stirring speech that you can view here. "The reason that our Constitution is worth keeping faith with is not simply the genius of 55 men who met in Philadelphia in 1787. Rather, it's the way that generation after generation of Americans have made the Constitution ours," Karlan proclaimed during one of the more poignant and less riotous portions of her address. "Time and again, as Justice Holmes urged, we have interpreted the Constitution in light of what this country has become."

For more featured sessions from the Convention, including the plenary panels and breakout sessions, click here.

Senator Amy Klobuchar, a member of the Judiciary Committee, will deliver featured remarks on Friday morning, June 19th, at the 2009 ACS National Convention. She joins a lineup that includes Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, who be the featured lunch speaker on Friday and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, chairman of the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts, who will kick off the Convention with remarks at the opening reception at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 18. Harvard Law Professor Elizabeth Warren, the head of the oversight panel responsible for the TARP bailout fund, will deliver lunchtime remarks on Saturday.  Click here for registration and to go to the 2009 ACS National Convention page.