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Join us for
‘A Constitutional Convention for Rhode Island?’

On behalf of the staff and faculty at the Hassenfeld Institute for Public Leadership at Bryant University, the Roger Williams University School of Law, Common Cause Rhode Island, and the League of Women Voters of Rhode Island, we formally invite you to participate in our program that will be held at Bryant University on Saturday, March 29th from 9:00 to 1:00. This event is free and open to the public. We ask you to register here.

The program will focus on the upcoming vote to authorize a constitutional convention, and if passed, the selection of delegates, and the mechanics of a convention and subsequent referenda. National experts will discuss the design and legal status of state constitutions, and focus on the process of state constitutional reform across the states. Another group will discuss whether Rhode Island should have a constitutional convention and, if so, what areas of the Rhode Island constitution may be in need of amendment.

Symposium Leader- Professor Diana Hassel, Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Roger Williams University School of Law

Agenda

8:30 a.m. Registration

9:00 a.m. Introduction to the Rhode Island Constitutional Convention Process

John Marion, Executive Director, Common Cause Rhode Island

9:30 a.m. State Constitutional Conventions: The National Perspective

Professor Robert Williams, Distinguished Professor of Law and Associate Director of the Center for State Constitutional Studies, Rutgers University School of Law-Camden

Professor G. Alan Tarr, Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for State Constitutional Studies at Rutgers University-Camden

10:30 a.m. The Case For and Against a Constitutional Convention in Rhode Island.

Moderator: Gary Sasse, Founding Director of the Hassenfeld Institute, Bryant University

Justice Robert Flanders Jr., former Associate Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, Partner at Hinckley Allen

Steven Brown, Executive Director, Rhode Island ACLU

Professor Ross Cheit, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, Brown University

Professor Jared Goldstein, Professor of Law, Roger Williams University School of Law

11:30 a.m. Break and Lunch

12:00 p.m. Question & Answer with all speakers including Professors Robert Williams & G. Alan Tarr

Moderator: Professor Diana Hassel, Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Roger Williams University School of Law

More Information

For further details please contact the Hassenfeld institute at hipl@bryant.edu or call (401) 232-6193 or register here