Brandeis talk at Touro Law

Long Island’s Touro Law Center and its Jewish Law Institute are planning a two-day national conference that will cover the path-breaking career of Justice Louis Brandeis, on the 100th anniversary of his appointment to the Supreme Court.

More than 30 judges, lawyers and scholars representing a broad range of disciplines will participate in “Louis D. Brandeis: An Interdisciplinary Retrospective,” on March 31 and April 1, on the school’s Central Islip campus.

The conference, which is open to the public, will consider Brandeis’ work from legal, Jewish and historical perspectives, said Patricia Salkin, dean of Touro Law Center, who stressed that Brandeis’ importance goes beyond his appointment as the first Jew to the high court to “his renowned defense of both free speech and the right to privacy.”

The event will explore topics that include the justice’s groundbreaking work as a lawyer and a scholar, his commitment to his Jewish heritage and his jurisprudence on the court, she said.

Confirmed speakers include The Hon. Kermit Lipez, United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit; Lance Liebman, former Dean of Columbia Law School and former Director of the American Law Institute; Jeffrey Rosen, President of the National Constitutional Center; Kenneth Elzinga, Robert C. Taylor Chair in Economics at the University of Virginia; Hasia Diner, Paul S. and Sylvia Steinberg Professor of American Jewish History and Director of the Goldstein-Goren Center for American Jewish History at New York University; and Fred Lawrence, former President of Brandeis University.

For additional information, contact the conference organizer, Samuel J. Levine, professor of law and director of the Jewish Law Institute, at 631-761-7138 or slevine@tourolaw.edu.