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George Mason University School of Law

Contact Information
  • Email:
  • Phone: Rachel Talbot, 781-405-4681
Location
3301 Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22201
United States
See map: Google Maps
Chapter Contacts
  • Rachel Talbot - President, rltalbot056[at]gmail.com
  • Shawn Stout - Vice President - Programs, stout.shawn[at]gmail.com
  • Brianna Salerno - Vice President - Administration, brianna.salerno[at]gmail.com
  • Carolyn Abbate - Vice President- Finance, carolynabbate[at]gmail.com
Recent Stories

GMU Chapter Officers 2008-2009!!

The George Mason Chapter is pleased to announce our new officers for next school year!

President: Rachel Talbot
VP Communications: Laurance Frierson
VP Programs: Shawn Stout
VP Administration: Brianna Salerno
VP Technology: Nathan Mitchell
VP Finance: Carolyn Abbate

Role of the Courts Panel

On March 24 the GMU chapter co sponsored a three way discussion on the role of the courts. We had three speakers, Alan Morrison, Clark Neily and Orin Kerr present three different points of view: liberal, libertarian and conservative, respectively. Each speaker presented for about ten minutes, and then we had a thirty to forty minute discussion with the audience, followed by a reception. About fifty students and faculty attended this event. The attendees enjoyed the fact that we presented various viewpoints on the same issue. It made for a lively discussion.

The Rule of Law: Is it Alive and Well in Washington?

On March 19th Professor Sally Katzen spoke to a group of about twenty GMUSL students about the rule of law. Professor Katzen first discussed the foundations of the rule of law, and then she discussed whether or not it is being followed by the current administration. She spoke for about a half and hour, followed by a question and answer session.

Affirmative Action in Schools Panel

On February 27th the GMU chapter co-hosted, with the GMU Federalist Society, a panel discussion on Affirmative Action in schools. Angela Ciccolo, Interim General Counsel at the NAACP and Paul Beard, from the Pacific Legal Foundation, spoke. Richard Fields, GMU’s dean of diversity, moderated the discussion. The talk focused on the recent Seattle and Louisville Supreme Court decisions. Each speaker gave a brief overview of equal protection law in that area, then they discusses the fractured decision in the Seattle and Louisville cases and then we opened up the floor to a group discussion on the future of using race based assignments in the schools. We had about thirty students attend the event.

GMU Chapter Constitution in the Classroom Intiative.

On Wednesday and Thursday, February 20 and 21, students from the GMU chapter are going to Washington-Lee High school to teach a constitution lesson to high school students. We are using the Juvenile Rights lesson plan. This will be our second visit to W-L and the start of what we hope is going to be a great tradition.

Brown Bag Lunch with Professor Eric Claeys

On November 7, 2007, the GMUSL chapter hosted a brown bag lunch with Professor Eric Claeys. Professor Clayes discussed the recent decision in Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 (2005), and the implications of that decision on poor and minority communities. After Professor Claeys presented the background of the case we discussed as a group if or how the decision changed the way courts go about deciding whether a property should be condemned. We also discussed the effects of the decision on suburban, rather than urban, areas.

Constitution Day!!

On September 17, 2007, members of George Mason Chapter of ACS taught a lesson on the Fourth Amendment to two classes at Washington-Lee High school, in Arlington. The lessons were a huge success. The students were engaged and actively particpated in the group debate on the legality of searching a high school student's personal computer. The teachers invited us to come back next year, and even suggested that we develop another lesson for the spring semester.

Liberty Tavern Networking and Recruiting Event

On September 12, 2007, the George Mason Chapter of ACS hosted a networking and recruiting event at Liberty Tavern, in Arlington, VA, with other George Mason organizations. We used the event as a recruiting tool, as a follow up to the organizations fair our school hosted on September 5. We answered questions about ACS and had 10 new members sign up. We also recruited a volunteeer to teach at Washington-Lee High School on Constitution Day. We also promoted our first speaker event: Praveen Fernandes will be coming to our first meeting to talk about ACS and we will brainstorm activities for the upcoming year. We expect a high turnout at this meeting, since we had about 60 people attend our networking event.

DC Pilot Mentorship Program


The ACS national office, ACS’s Washington, DC Lawyer Chapter and ACS’s Georgetown University Law Center are proud to announce the launch of the DC Student/Lawyer Mentorship Pilot Program.

Since 2001, ACS has grown exponentially from a small campus organization to a national network of progressive scholars, judges, practitioners, advocates, public officials and law students. ACS and its members strive to ensure that the fundamental principles of human dignity, individual rights and liberties, genuine equality and access to justice are in their rightful place in American law. As evidenced by our conservative counterparts, a vital tool in achieving our mission is to create a means by which more senior members can provide career and professional guidance to those more junior. To this end, we have developed a student/lawyer mentorship program in Washington, DC.

In the coming years, ACS hopes to expand this to a national mentorship program in which senior members from various legal career paths will be paired with mid-level attorneys, recent graduate and law student members. This pilot program will match DC Lawyer Chapter members with DC area student chapter members. Participating student chapters include: American, Catholic, George Mason, George Washington, Georgetown, Howard, Maryland and the University of the District of Columbia. To the extent possible, matches will be made based on employment sector and substantive interest area. Please bear with us as this program develops.

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