Austin College students host session on Earl Warren’s Court
By Austin College
Apr 5, 2009
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SHERMAN, TEXAS — Austin College’s 2009 Law Symposium on March 27 highlighted “Earl Warren: The Man and His Court,” offering a 40-year retrospective on the Warren Court, which history may assess as the modern court’s greatest era. The event is designed for students and others interested in the field of law, as well as current attorneys.

Some of the nation’s leading Warren scholars led discussions including Professor Lucas A. Powe Jr., author of The Warren Court and American Politics; Jim Newton, author of Justice For All: Earl Warren Court and the Nation He Made; James George, Austin media law attorney and former clerk to Justice Thurgood Marshall; Austin attorney Shannon Ratliff, former clerk for Justice Tom C. Clark; D’Army Bailey, a Tennessee judge; and Peter Ehrenhaft, senior law clerk to Chief Justice Warren in 1961-1962. Other participants were Brian Serr, a member of the Baylor Law School faculty and former clerk for John H. Brown; University of Alabama Bainbridge Professor of Law Pamela H. Bucy, a 1975 graduate of Austin College, and a former clerk to Judge Theodore McMillian of the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals; and Wendy Watson, assistant professor of political science at Southern Methodist University and a former law clerk for U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank.

Members of the Austin College Pre-Law Society assisted with arrangements and staffing for the event. Officers of the Pre-Law Society are included below, by hometown, including the local high school from which they graduated, their parents’ names, and their Pre-Law office.

Carrollton, Texas

Nathan Withers, Pre-Law Society vice president and committee leader, Newman Smith High School, son of Steve and Liz Withers;  

Fort Worth, Texas

Justin Light, Pre-Law Society president, , All Saints Episcopal School , son of Russell and Lou Light; 

Houston, Texas

Marc Bacani, Pre-Law Society historian and photographer, St Stephen's Episcopal School, son of Dr. Marcial Bacani and Claire Timberlake.  

Lubbock, Texas

Dallas Key, Pre-Law Society vice president, Whiteface High School, son of Larry and Terri Key; 

Richardson, Texas

Joshua Muchnikoff, Pre-Law Society historian, L.V. Berkner High School, son of Sharon Lane-Hughes;  

Sherman, Texas

Hillary Luckett, Pre-Law Society secretary, Sherman High School, daughter of Lawane and Rhonda Luckett;  

Brandon Montminy, Pre-Law Society treasurer, S&S High School, son of Paul and   Elizabeth Montminy; 

The annual Austin College Law Symposium celebrates the founding at the college of the first law school in Texas and strives to bring to campus important discussion of the most topical legal issues facing American society. With Texas Chief Justice Royall T. Wheeler as its law professor, Austin College opened its Law Department in 1855, when the college was located in Huntsville, Texas.

The Austin College Office of Alumni and Parent Relations and the college “L” Law Alumni Association join the Pre-Law Society in presenting the annual program. Frank Rohmer, associate professor of political science, is the Pre-Law Society adviser.

Sponsors for the 2009 event were:

Austin College is a leading national independent liberal arts college located north of Dallas in Sherman, Texas. Founded in 1849, making it the oldest institution of higher education in Texas operating under original charter and name, the college is related by covenant to the Presbyterian Church (USA). Recognized nationally for academic excellence in the areas of international education, pre-professional training, and leadership studies, Austin College is one of 40 schools profiled in Loren Pope’s influential book Colleges that Change Lives.