The University of New Mexico

NEWS RELEASE

Media Contact: Benson Hendrix, 277-1816
                                      bhendrix@unm.edu

April 9, 2009
                                                                                                                                   
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to Visit UNM School of Law and Present Public Lecture

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia will visit the UNM School of Law and present a public lecture at 3 p.m. on April 14 at the Albuquerque Convention Center, Kiva Auditorium. Doors will open at 2 p.m. At the law school, he will attend classes and visit with students and faculty. The Federalist Society is sponsoring the visit in cooperation with the law school. All law school events are educational and closed to the public and the media.

Justice Scalia served as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1982, before being nominated as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court by President Reagan in 1986. He grew up in New York City and graduated as class valedictorian from Georgetown University. He served as note editor of the Harvard Law Review and graduated magna cum laude.

“The University of New Mexico is proud to have someone of Justice Scalia’s legal acumen come to our campus and take time out of his busy schedule to visit with New Mexico’s next generation of legal scholars,” says UNM President David Schmidly.

"Justice Scalia's visit will be a great opportunity for our students to interact with a Supreme Court justice and to learn first-hand how the court operates, chooses the cases to review and decides the cases it takes," says UNM School of Law Dean Leo Romero. "We are grateful to the national Federalist Society for co-sponsoring this visit that was spearheaded by the student chapter. The last time a Supreme Court justice visited was in the early 1990s when Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was here.” 

"The Federalist Society at the UNM School of Law is excited that Justice Scalia accepted our invitation to visit Albuquerque," says Alonzo Maestas, president of the student chapter of the Federalist Society. "We look forward to a day filled with fascinating legal dialogue."

Because seating is limited at the public lecture, reservations are required. There is no cost for the lecture. To hold a seat, R.S.V.P. to the Federalist Society at http://www.fed-soc.org/NMScalia. Doors will open at 2 p.m. and seat reservations will be held until 2:45 p.m., after which all remaining seats will be open to the general public. Attendees are asked to leave backpacks, bags and large purses at home.

Media Advisory:
The lecture is open to still camera and pencil and pad/laptop coverage only. Recording devices are permitted for note-taking purposes but not for broadcast. Still photographers will be permitted to take photos for the first two minutes at the beginning of the event and again at the end of the event. A press section will be established near the podium for still photographers and reporters. It is requested that all media planning on attending the event reply to Benson Hendrix with the University of New Mexico Public Affairs Office.

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