UNM School of Law hosts Dennis Chavez Lectureship on Law and Civil Rights

The University of New Mexico School of Law hosts the U.S. Senator Dennis Chavez Endowed Lectureship on Law and Civil Rights on Wednesday, March 4, featuring constitutional law scholar Stephen I. Vladeck.

The event begins with refreshments at 5 p.m., followed by the lecture at 5:30 p.m. in the UNM School of Law Forum. The program has been approved for 1.5 general continuing legal education credits and is open to the public.

Vladeck is the Agnes Williams Sesquicentennial Professor of Federal Courts at Georgetown University Law Center and a nationally recognized expert on constitutional law, federal courts and national security law. He is the author of The Shadow Docket, which examines the Supreme Court's emergency decision-making process, and he frequently provides legal analysis for national media outlets. Vladeck has argued cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and federal appellate courts and previously taught at American University Washington College of Law.

His lecture, titled "The Court We Need: Why the Supreme Court is Worth Saving, Especially from Itself," will explore the evolving role of the Supreme Court and broader questions about judicial power, institutional legitimacy and constitutional governance.

The Dennis Chavez Endowed Lectureship on Law and Civil Rights honors the legacy of U.S. Sen. Dennis Chavez, a New Mexico native who grew up in Albuquerque's Barelas neighborhood in a Spanish-speaking household in the late 19th century. Chavez left school at 13 to help support his family and later studied law while working on Capitol Hill, earning his degree from Georgetown Law in 1920.

After returning to New Mexico to practice law, Chavez served in the New Mexico Legislature, the U.S. House of Representatives and, beginning in 1935, the U.S. Senate, becoming the only Hispanic senator at the time. During his nearly three decades in the Senate, Chavez advocated for civil and human rights, rural electrification, water and soil conservation, and protections for Indigenous lands, voting rights and self-determination.

Established in his honor, the annual lectureship brings leading voices in law, scholarship and public service to UNM to foster discussion about civil rights, democracy and the role of the legal system, values Chavez championed throughout his career.

For more information visit lawschool.unm.edu