Citing his powers as an academic administrator, Professor of Law and Dean of the University of Richmond Law School Rodney Smolla appointed the crowd of Memorial Chapel to the Supreme Court of the United States, for the following forty-five minutes.
Smolla spoke Wednesday as a part of the Hugo L. Black annual lecture series. The lecture series is sponsored by Leonard S. Halpert ’44. Named for former Supreme Court justice Hugo L. Black, the series is intended to showcase issues regarding freedom of expression.
For his lecture Smolla invented a law he called the “Super Patriot Act,” with provisions including a ban on burning or desecrating the United States flag and burning effigies of the President or the cross with the purpose of threat. The “Super Patriot Act” also included a provision that declares any person who teaches, instructs, or incites the propriety of the violent overthrow of the Unites States government guilty of a felony.
“This nation’s unique contribution to the world is the idea of rights,” Smolla said. “Even when they are against the majority opinion.”
He provided a fictional case dealing with the unlucky fate of one Jane Brown, a professor of Islamic Studies. In the case, Professor Brown gave a lecture to an academic audience at a private university in which she remarked that “jihad is the duty of any devout Muslim.” When she was asked how she felt about the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, she responded, “I understand and sympathize with the motivation of the attackers, and I view them as martyrs.”
Smolla proceeded to moderate a discussion, calling on the audience to work through both positions to reach a decision.
Audience participants asked questions ranging from simple points of clarification to complex questions about the Supreme Court’s traditional view on First Amendment rights.
At the conclusion of the discussion period, the crowd voted overwhelmingly to uphold previous court decisions and acquit Jane Brown, declaring the law unconstitutional. Smolla commended the few who upheld the law, moving the spectrum of the discussion beyond the individual case study.
“To win the war on terrorism, you must win the battle of ideas,” he said. “You must have the courage to say this [idea] is repugnant to the ideals of American society. But it’s a short step from the banning of one symbol or idea to the banning of all.”
Following the vote, Smolla discussed the position of the United States in the world, stressing that democracy was in no way an American original idea, and that its true legacy was in the field of human rights.
“He found a creative way of keeping the audience engaged” said Jamie DeLanghe ’08. “He presented both sides of the case fairly and with fervor.”
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