Opening Remarks

Abstract

It is a very great pleasure and honor to be here with you all back at William and Mary. It's a special treat to follow Senator Whitehouse-also a challenge, given his extraordinary performance. Dean Douglas, it's always great to see you again, and also a special thanks to Neal Devins for helping to make this possible. I guess I can't help saying one other thing. As I walked into this building, and I noticed the statue of George Wythe, teacher, known by, among other things, his extraordinary students: Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, Henry Clay. Did I mention James Monroe? There are others. And as I look out in the audience and survey the schedule, I can't help notice that I, too, have been blessed over the years with extraordinary students, two of whom you will be hearing from over the course of this event. So I love the idea of a law school named for a teacher, celebrating a teacher, and a teacher in part known for his students. So thank you so much for inviting me back here. At an event designed to encourage thought and discussion about the jury-the civil jury, as a political institution-I would like us to remember that the civil jury is a part of a larger jury family, a family of political institutions. So what I'm going to talk about today is what lessons we might learn if we think about the jury family.