On April 11, 2008, ACS and Lambda Legal, along with the Georgia Lawyer Chapter of ACS and the Stonewall Bar Association of Georgia, presented a symposium hosted at Emory Law School by the Emory ACS Student Chapter and Emory EGALA on “Lawrence v. Texas Five Years Out: Can The Promises Of Liberty And Equality Be Fulfilled?”

When the Supreme Court issued Lawrence v. Texas in 2003, it overruled its own precedent in Bowers v. Hardwick and, citing liberty interests and invoking equality principles, struck down the remaining state laws criminalizing private consensual intimacy. Beginning the day it was issued, the case has sparked continuing debate over its jurisprudential underpinnings, central meaning and likely impact.

With a keynote address by Paul Smith, Partner at Jenner & Block, who argued Lawrence v. Texas before the U.S. Supreme Court in cooperation with Lambda Legal, and panels of experts who represent a variety of viewpoints, the symposium looked back over the past five years to decision day and towards the future on how the law should continue to evolve. The event was a lively discussion on key constitutional and legal issues affecting the equality, liberty and daily lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Video is available from the conference:

• Keynote address by Paul Smith, Partner at Jenner & Block.
• Panel 1: "Looking Back At Lawrence v. Texas On Decision Day and Over The Past Five Years."
• Panel 2: "Looking Forward On Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity: Where Should The Law Go From Here?"
• Closing remarks by Robert Schapiro, Associate Dean of Faculty and Professor of Law, Emory Law School.