Foulston Siefkin Lecture, 2010: William N. Eskridge, Jr.

Washburn University School of Law
and the Washburn Law Journal
proudly present the
33rd Annual Foulston Siefkin Lecture

William N. Eskridge, Jr.
John A. Garver Professor of Jurisprudence
Yale Law School

"Political Powerlessness as a Requirement for Suspect Classifications?"

Watch or listen to Professor Eskridge's lecture (88 minutes)

Photograph: William Eskridge.Professor William N. Eskridge, Jr., received his B.A., summa cum laude, from Davidson College in 1973 and his Master's in History from Harvard University in 1974. Professor Eskridge presented the Foulston Siefkin Lecture on Friday, March 26, 2010.

Professor Eskridge earned his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he was the Note and Topics Editor of The Yale Law Journal (1977-78). After clerking for U.S. District Judge Edward Weinfeld in the Southern District of New York and practicing law at Shea & Gardner, he entered academia. His primary academic homes have been the Georgetown University Law Center (1987-98) and the Yale Law School (1998-present), but Professor Eskridge has also taught at NYU, Stanford, Toronto, Harvard, Columbia, Virginia, and Vanderbilt. His primary legal academic interest has been statutory interpretation. Together, Professor Eskridge and Professor Philip Frickey (a friend from Shea & Gardner) developed an innovative casebook on Legislation. Professor Eskridge has also published a monograph and several dozen law review articles (many with Frickey) on statutory interpretation theory and practice.

Professors Eskridge and Frickey's project has been to understand the dynamics of statutory evolution, and the proper methodology judges should apply when construing statutes. In 1990-95, Professor Eskridge represented a gay couple suing for recognition of their same-sex marriage. Since then, he has published a field-establishing casebook, three monographs, and dozens of law review articles articulating a legal and political framework for proper state treatment of sexual and gender minorities. The historical materials in his book on Gaylaw (Google Books preview) formed the basis for an amicus brief he drafted for the Cato Institute and for much of the Court's (and the dissenting opinion's) analysis in Lawrence v. Texas (2003), which invalidated consensual sodomy laws. Professor Eskridge has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court more than a dozen times.

Logo: Foulston Liefkin LLP.
has sponsored the Foulston Siefkin Lecture since 1978 to enrich the
quality of education at Washburn University School of Law.
Articles derived from the lectures are published by
the Washburn Law Journal.