The Future of Rights: Frameworks, Trends and Alternative Visions

Let’s talk… The Future of Rights

The concept of rights has informed our understanding of the freedom of persons in the context of the power of the state. But our understanding of the content of rights has changed over time. How were rights understood in the past, and how do we understand them in the present? And how can we use our answers to those questions to better inform our understanding of rights in the future? These questions, and others like them, will be addressed at this half-day, online conference, co-hosted by the Liberty & Law Center at the Antonin Scalia Law School and the Sunwater Institute.

PROGRAM

On Zoom, Friday November 18

12:00 noon to 4:30 pm

All times are in Eastern Daylight Time Zone (EDT)

12:00 PM: Opening Remarks

12:10 – 1:20 PM: Panel One – Rights in the Past

Mark Somos: Heisenberg Professor at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg, Germany

Ioanna Tourkochoriti: Member of the Law School Faculty at the National University of Ireland, Galway

Moderator: David Bernstein, University Professor and the Executive Director of the Liberty & Law Center at the Antonin Scalia Law School

1:35 – 2:45 PM: Panel Two – Rights in the Present

Prithviraj Datta: Visiting Assistant Professor in the Government Department at Franklin & Marshall College

Ilya Somin: Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University

Moderator: Joseph Kochanek, External Scholar at the Sunwater Institute, and a Visiting Assistant Professor at the George Washington University

3:00 – 4:10 PM: Panel Three – Rights in the Future

Joseph Kochanek: External Scholar at the Sunwater Institute, and a Visiting Assistant Professor at the George Washington University

Ani Harutyunyan: Scholar at the Sunwater Institute

Moderator: Matthew Chervenak, Founder and President of the Sunwater Institute

4:10 – 4:30 PM: Closing Remarks