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Tucker Lecture

March 26, 2015

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

Millhiser Moot Court Room, Lewis Hall

Meg Beebe

"Magna Carta: 800 Years after Runnymede" presented by Professor A. E. Dick Howard.

In June 1215, a reluctant King John agreed to the terms of an agreement which came to be called Magna Carta. Over the ensuing centuries, Magna Carta become embedded in the fabric of English constitutionalism.

Why should Americans care about a bargain struck in medieval times between a king and his barons? That question inspires Professor A. E. Dick Howard to talk about Magna Carta's influence on American constitutionalism. He will trace the Charter's path from the first colonial charters, through revolutionary Americans' case against British policies, through the making of the early American state constitutions and the Federal Constitution, and down to its central place in the shaping of American ideas of constitutional supremacy, due process of law, and the rule of law. Magna Carta is, in a very real sense, a cornerstone of how we in America shape our constitutional law.