Brandeis School of Law Professor Justin Walker has a unique perspective on the recent changes to the makeup of the United States Supreme Court.

A former clerk for retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy, Walker also clerked for Judge Brett Kavanaugh, nominated last month by President Donald Trump to fill Kennedy’s seat.

At Judge Kavanaugh’s request, Walker was in attendance at the White House for the nomination announcement on July 9, 2018.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime moment to be in the East Room, to see a justice nominated, and for that person to be someone I admire so much as a jurist and as a mentor and as a person,” Walker said.

“I loved seeing him up there with his wife and two little girls, whom he adores. It was also special to see his dad and trailblazing mom sitting in the front row, looking beyond proud. I felt excited for all of them, honored to be there and hopeful about the independence and fair-mindedness he’s going to bring to the Supreme Court.”

Walker has been featured in several local and national media outlets about Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination and his experiences working for both men.

In interviews, Walker states that he believes Judge Kavanaugh would be an open-minded justice.

“He’ll care about what the text of the law requires a judge to do,” Walker says in a . “He will not care about partisan political issues and outcomes.”

Walker has also said that Judge Kavanaugh would remain true to his conservative principles.Ěý

“I would bet the farm that Judge Kavanaugh would not go wobbly” on key conservative issues, Walker said in an interview with . “He doesn’t have a wobbly bone in his body.”

On a personal level, Walker has praised Judge Kavanaugh’s work ethic and collegial nature.

“Whatever the opposite of a Georgetown cocktail party person is, that’s what Judge Kavanaugh is,” he told . “He’d much rather have a beer and watch a hockey game.”

See a list of Walker’s media appearances:

Print/digital:

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TV and Radio:

• Point of View Radio Talk Show, July 16, 2018
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• Newstalk KVGO, July 13, 2018
• WAVE 3, July 13, 2018
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• KXFM, July 12, 2018
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• WVLK-AM, July 12, 2018
• 790 KABC, July 11, 2018
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• Urban Family Talk, July 11, 2018
• Bloomberg Radio, July 10, 2018
• Bloomberg TV, July 10, 2018
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• The Mitch Albom Show, July 10, 2018
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• Sirius Xm Patriot, July 10, 2018
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• Sirius XM Patriot, July 9, 2018
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• WLKY Louisville, July 2, 2018
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• Fox 5 New York, June 28, 2018

Opinion:

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“The impact of Buchanan is still felt today. Buchanan is an example of the present-day effects of structural inequality,” said law Professor Cedric Merlin Powell, one of the organizers of the event. “Although race-based zoning was ruled unconstitutional, we still see racially segregated housing across the country and here in Louisville. At this event, we will explore factors that contribute to that segregation, such as zoning laws, development regulations and redlining. We will also hear views from scholars on the way forward.”

The symposium is 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 10, at the Brandeis School of Law, Room 275, Belknap Campus.

The symposium will explore current racial injustices in land use, housing and environmental conditions, as well as the history of race and zoning in the U.S. and Louisville.

The keynote speaker, Sheryll Cashin, a law professor at Georgetown University and an active member of the Poverty and Race Research Action Council, will discuss “Integration as a Means of Restoring Democracy and Opportunity.”

The event will feature four sessions with presentations from eight nationally renowned scholars, including four from UofL, as well as a presentation on redlining in Louisville. Session topics include: “The History of Race, Zoning, and Buchanan Case” and “Contemporary Perspectives on the Persistence of Racial Inequality in Land Use.”

The symposium is sponsored by the Brandeis School of Law, with support from the Caudill-Little Speakers Fund, and co-sponsored by the Anne Braden Institute for Social Justice Research at the University of Louisville.

The event is free and open to the public. .Ěý

And for good reason: He was a student at Harvard Law School when now-Justice Elena Kagan was dean. Indeed, she recommended him for the two clerkships he received, the first for Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (2010-11), and the second for her colleague, Justice Anthony Kennedy of the U.S. Supreme Court (2011-12).

In addition to his clerkships, Walker was a Pentagon speechwriter for former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. He now teaches legal writing at Brandeis Law.Ěý

He shared his insights with UofL News on President Donald Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Neil Gorsuch.

UofL News: Who is Judge Neil Gorsuch?

Walker: Judge Gorsuch is a federal appellate judge in Colorado who graduated from Columbia, Harvard and Oxford. He is married with two kids, loves the outdoors and is the son of the first female administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Among the judges who Gorsuch clerked for after law school was Justice Anthony Kennedy, which means Justice Kennedy will be the first justice ever to serve on the Supreme Court at the same time as a former clerk, if Gorsuch is confirmed.

UofL News: If confirmed, how would Gorsuch change the makeup of the court?

°Â˛ą±ô°ě±đ°ů:ĚýPresident Trump said he would replace Justice Scalia with someone who will vote like Justice Scalia. If that’s what he’s done, then the ideological balance of the court will not change. But it’s not the difference between Gorsuch and Scalia that’s history-making; it’s the difference between Gorsuch and Judge Merrick Garland.

UofL News: Judge Garland was, of course, Barack Obama’s nominee to the Court last year, which Senate Republicans blocked. What do you mean about the difference between him and Gorsuch?

Walker: Although Gorsuch and Garland are alike in many ways – both elite thinkers, both very well educated, both well respected by other judges of all persuasions – there is a significant difference. Garland was not conservative. Gorsuch is. On a court as evenly divided as today’s court, Garland would have would have made the That won’t happen now.

UofL News: How does his style compare to Justice Scalia’s?

Walker: Judge Gorsuch’s respect for Justice Scalia was so great that when he heard the news of Scalia’s death while skiing in Colorado, . That doesn’t mean they are exactly the same in their style and approach to the law. But like Scalia, he considers himself a textualist, which means he says he feels bound to apply the law as it is written, not necessarily as he thinks it should be written. Of course, some textualists are accused of not always practicing what they preach. For Judge Gorsuch, time will tell. But his record suggests a fidelity to the text.

UofL News: How does he compare to the current justices?

Walker: In many ways, he’s like them. Like Gorsuch, they were all federal appellate judge before becoming Supreme Court justices. Like him, they all studied at Harvard or Yale. And like him, they all built careers that put them at the top of their field through their hard work and intellectual firepower. If Judge Gorsuch is confirmed, I think his eight colleagues will see someone who shares their high standards, their passion for the law and their respect for collegiality.

UofL News: He has been described as taking an originalist approach to the Constitution. Can you explain what this means?

Walker: Originalists care about what the text of Constitution originally meant to the people who ratified it. But like most things in law, it’s more complicated than that. Few originalists care only about original meaning; for example, even Justice Scalia sometimes deferred to precedents that were inconsistent with it. And likewise, among the many judges who don’t label themselves “originalists,” few of them care nothing about original meaning. As Justice Kagan said last year,

UofL News: When the court has all nine justices in place, what are some of the major issues you would expect it to tackle in coming years?

Walker: There are lots to choose from, but I’ll mention three that come to mind.

One is free speech. The recent court has been among the most pro-speech courts ever, especially when it comes to speech that majorities of justices have viewed as political – and that their dissenting colleagues consider either not political, or not speech. How much farther will this court go to strike down limits on what they view as political speech protected by the First Amendment?

Another area is gun control: Heller said you have the right to a handgun in your home. What about outside your home? What about other kinds of guns? Stay tuned.

A third area I’ll mention isn’t the most high profile, but it’s one that could have a big impact on who has power in Washington. When it comes to federal agencies, how much power should those agencies have? Under current precedent, they have a lot of flexibility in interpreting the statutes that empower them. And under current precedent, Congress has a lot of flexibility in granting those agencies somewhat undefined authorities. There are some signs Judge Gorsuch is skeptical of some of those precedents, and if he’s confirmed, he might have company.

UofL News: How long might Gorsuch serve?

Walker: Judge Gorsuch is 49, the youngest nominee in a quarter century. The oldest justice ever was Oliver Wendell Holmes, at 90. In other words, if Gorsuch is confirmed, I doubt he’ll tell his real estate agent he’s looking to rent.

See more of Walker’s thoughts on the changes facing the Supreme Court here:

The medal is the law school’s highest honor and is awarded to people who champion the ideals of individual liberty, concern for the disadvantaged and public service. The award is a tribute to Louis D. Brandeis, a former U.S. Supreme Court justice from Louisville and namesake of the law school.

Kagan’s appointment to the high court by President Barack Obama was confirmed by the Senate in 2010 to replace Justice John Paul Stevens. She is the youngest sitting justice and her resume includes legal counsel and advisor to President Bill Clinton, Harvard Law School’s first female dean and the nation’s first female solicitor general. is the court’s 112th justice and fourth female justice.

To make her Louisville visit even more special, she traces her Supreme Court seat to Justice Brandeis: When Brandeis resigned, he was replaced by Justice William Douglas. When Douglas resigned, he was replaced by Justice John Paul Stevens. And when Stevens resigned, his seat was filled by Kagan.

“It’s an honor to confer this award on Justice Kagan,” said Brandeis School of Law Dean Susan Duncan. “In addition to tracing her seat on the Supreme Court to Justice Brandeis, her work in the areas of individual freedoms, equal opportunity and human rights reflects his life’s values. She’s also a great role model for our students because of her well-deserved reputation as a brilliant legal scholar and writer.”

Kagan will receive the medal Sept. 15 at a that starts at 6 p.m. in the ballroom of the Seelbach Hilton Hotel, 500 S. Fourth St. The cost is $100 per person. Registration is available until Sept. 12 and .

Kagan is the sixth Supreme Court justice to receive the Brandeis Medal since its inception in 1982. Others have included Justice Harry Blackmun (1983), Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (1992), Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (2003), Justice Stephen Breyer (2004), and Justice John Paul Stevens (2013).Ěý

The Brandeis Medal was established to recognize individuals whose lives reflect Justice Brandeis’ commitment to the ideals of individual liberty, concern for the disadvantaged, and public service. The medal is cast in the likeness of Justice Brandeis as a reminder of his contributions and dedication to the law.Ěý