Progressives think BIG! "The Constitution in 2020"

Calling all Kossacks interested in the United States' constitution: This weekend there will be a conference at the Yale Law School entitled  "The Constitution in 2020".  You can get more information on the  conference web site  

The conference has an ambitious and delicious agenda:

It is time for progressives to set a constitutional agenda for the 21st Century. In 1987-88, the Reagan Justice Department produced a white paper known as "The Constitution in 2000" which, by taking a long view rather than focusing on the immediate issues of the day, was immensely successful in influencing the Constitution under which we now live. If progressives are to rehabilitate that Constitution, they must now, more than ever, articulate constitutional ideals capable of inspiring the next generation. The goal is to set forth a positive constitutional vision for tomorrow, rather than merely to respond to the crises of today.

The conference will feature America's top constitutional scholars (the real ones, not phyllis schlafly). The web site already features a lively dialog from leading scholars on issues near and dear to Kossack hearts.  And the writing is wonderfully accessible, to non lawyers and those of us so far out of law school that we would not know a habeus from a corpus.

Conference themes include:

America in the World: This theme addresses the challenges posed by the dual issues of terrorism and globalization. Critical issues include: the tension between democracy and globalization, national security, warmaking, immigration, and the interaction of foreign law with the U.S. Constitution.

Liberties and Communities: The questions encompassed by this theme include the relationship between the Constitution and the broader social fabric of the United States, and in particular the constitutional protections provided to individuals acting alone and as members of various groups. Critical issues include: family, religion, federalism, and crime.

New Politics: This theme focuses on the challenges to democratic processes in an age of economic and technological change. Critical issues include: money in politics, voting rights, media concentration, gerrymandering, and the constitution of the public sphere in a digital age.

Social and Economic Inequality: This theme concerns the constitutional obligations of the government to protect against discrimination and to guarantee minimum standards of living.

Critical issues include: the nature of constitutional equality, the causes and remedies of inequality, the disparate roles of courts and Congress in vindicating rights of equal citizenship.

I really urge everyone to check out the conference and to follow its progress.  And please spread the word -- the conference got a bit of press in the washington post a few weeks back but it could use a lot more.

Ok, this is a shameless plug for an old friend.  But couldn't we  all use some visionary big picture stuff after all these months trying to defend the left flank of the body politic?