{ prima facie } the Temple Law newspaper

By Sharon D. Brown

More than 45 students and other members of Temple Law crowded into a Klein Building classroom last Tuesday, March 18, to hear two polar-opposite perspectives on the famous U.S. Supreme Court opinion in Lawrence v. Texas. 539 U.S. 558 (2003).

James Vandermark, Athas Nicolakakos, Mary Catherine Roper, Esq. and Professor Nelson Lund. Photo courtesy of Andrew Russell.

The Court held in Lawrence that Texas sodomy statutes were unconstitutional on substantive due process grounds.

Presenter Nelson Lund, Professor of Constitutional Law and the Second Amendment at George Mason University, declared that Lawrence “may be the worst opinion in the history of the Supreme Court,” even though the result was to get rid of a bad law.

Mary Catherine Roper, Staff Attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, challenged Professor Lund’s analysis.

The event was a collaborative effort between the Federalist Society and OUTLaw. Federalist Society student organizers included James Vandermark, Andrew Russell and Ashley Dorn, and OUTLaw student organizers included Athas Nicolakakos and Carla Kingery.