Brescia University will host an informational symposium entitled “Our Lived Constitution: Clashes that Shape American Constitutional Law” on March 18th that will delve into the ways that the US Constitution impacts the daily lives of everyone in society. Presenters will include members of the Kentucky legal community who have dealt with issues related to civil liberties and civil rights as litigants, judges, and members of the General Assembly.
The event will be in Taylor Lecture Hall on Brescia University’s campus and will begin at 9:30AM and run until 4:15PM. The event is free and open to the public with an open format that allows attendees to attend whichever portion of the event they would like to. All members of the community are encouraged to attend and engage in thoughtful dialogue about pressing issues in our contemporary society.
A schedule of events is as follows:
A Lifetime of Giving Meaning to the First Amendment
9:30 AM-10:35AM
Interview with Jon Fleischaker
(conducted by Matt Francis, Executive Editor, Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer)
Jon Fleischaker is a Louisville lawyer who has litigated First Amendment issues and media law for forty years. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He helped draft and update Kentucky’s Open Records and Open Meetings laws, and he was inducted into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame in 2004.
Matt Francis is currently the Executive Editor for the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer in Owensboro, Kentucky. He is a graduate of the University of Richmond. He joined the Messenger-Inquirer in 1998, and he has served as its executive editor since 2007.
Sharia and the US Constitution
10:45 AM-11:35AM
Naheed Murtaza lives in Owensboro and is active in the Owensboro Islamic Center. She is a graduate of the John Marshall Law School in Chicago. She practiced law in Illinois from 2000 to 2005 and remains a member of the Illinois Bar. She has lectured extensively on the subject of Islam in the Owensboro area.
Lunch Break: 11:35AM-12:50PM
Remembering Wasson: Kentucky and the Right of Privacy
12:50 PM-1:35PM
Lewis Paisley is a Lexington attorney who has served as a district court judge, circuit court judge, and on the Kentucky Court of Appeals. He has served on commissions and advisory boards at the state level on topics including executive branch ethics, child abuse, and domestic violence. He is a graduate of the University of Kentucky College Of Law.
The Death Penalty and the Constitution
1:45 PM-2:30PM
Ted Shouse practices law in Louisville and has represented many criminal defendants in death penalty cases at the trial and appellate level. He has served as the Director of the Kentucky Innocence Project. Ted Shouse is a graduate of the Louis Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville.
The Constitution in Daily Life: Where the Rubber Meets the Road
2:45PM PM-4:15PM
Moderator: Judge Charles Boteler
Charles Boteler served as a district and circuit court judge in Hopkins County for over 25 years. He is a graduate of the Louis Brandeis School of Law at the University Louisville. Currently, he is a lecturer at Brescia University and teaches courses on the American legal system and constitutional law.
Panel Members
Jon Fleischaker
Naheed Murtaza
Lewis Paisley
Ted Shouse
Heather Blackburn is an attorney at the Department of Public Advocacy in Owensboro, Kentucky. She regularly litigates in district and circuit courts representing criminal defendants. She is a graduate of the University of North Dakota School of Law.
Richard Frymire is a Madisonville attorney who has served in both house of the Kentucky General Assembly. During the 1975 controversy associated with school busing and the desegregation of Louisville and Jefferson County schools, Richard Frymire served as Kentucky’s Adjutant General. He is a graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Law.
Lisa P. Jones has served as District Judge in Daviess County since 2001. She was the first elected female judge in Daviess County. Prior to that, Judge Jones was a prosecutor for Daviess County’s Commonwealth Attorney. She is the recipient of the 2015 Chief Justice’s Special Service Award in recognition of her judicial service and for her work in family and juvenile law. Judge Jones is a graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Law.