Past Lecture Series

Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643 (1961)

Mapp v. Ohio involved outrageous misconduct by the Cleveland Police. The U.S. Supreme Court used this misconduct to force the states to abandon their own criminal laws. The Supreme Court ignored the doc-trine of federalism established by the Tenth Amendment. Surprisingly, it also ignored its own recent opinion that reached the opposite result. Why? Was the Supreme Court primarily concerned with police misconduct in Cleveland? Or did it use the outrageous police misconduct to divert the public’s attention from its true motive? Dr. Tyler explains what really happened, and how Mapp v. Ohio (1961) continues to shape American
politics today.

Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436

Professor Craig Ferrell opened The Law & Liberty 2022-2023 Lecture Series entitled: “Criminal Cases that Changed the Nation” with a discussion of the best-known and arguably most significant law enforcement case ever decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436

Visiting Lecture by Dr. Ben Carson

As part of our annual Leaders in Liberty lecture series, Dr. Ben Carson shares his inspirational life story and a vision for a stronger, more united nation.

Cataline

Lecture by Dr. Steve Jones

Fifteen years before Julius Caesar ended the almost 700-year history of the Roman Republic, a man tried and failed to seize the state by force. The man was Lucius Sergius Cataline, known to history simply as “Cataline.” He failed thanks to the work of the Roman statesman Cicero who uncovered the conspiracy and exposed Cataline in a series of speeches delivered in the Roman Senate. Rome never appreciated the service done by Cicero. Instead, they exiled him for his own supposed illegal activities in suppressing Cataline’s conspiracy. Could the Roman Republic have been saved if it had listened to Cicero instead of turning against him?

Benedict Arnold

Lecture by Dr. Christopher Hammons

Why would Benedict Arnold—considered by historians and his contemporaries to be one of the greatest soldiers of the American Revolution—betray his country when he had fought so successfully for its Independence?

Benjamin Church

Respected physician and a member of the Sons of Liberty, Dr. Benjamin Church ran in the same circles as Paul Revere, Sam Adams, and John Hancock. He professed dedication to the American cause and assumed important leadership roles on the patriot side. Yet he was in fact a British agent—until patriots intercepted his coded letter to the enemy. What led this trusted leader to serve the British and how was he able to fool so many Americans?

Alcibiades

Lecture by Dr. Collin Garbarino

Rash and daring, Alcibiades excited the passion of the Athenian democracy, and many citizens looked to him as the successor of their beloved Pericles. But Alcibiades wasn’t a statesman like Pericles who attempted to lead the city in virtue. Rather, Alcibiades became an embodiment of the city itself—beautiful, reckless, and treacherous.

George Mason

Lecture by Dr. John Tyler

George Mason was the most respected founder in his own time, but he is virtually invisible in our time. America was woven together by three magnificent documents: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. George Mason played a decisive role in shaping each of them.

William Blount

Lecture by Dr. Scott Robinson

The Old Southwest was a rough place. William Blount aspired to dominate the region and was impeached instead. In this lecture, you’ll discover what his experience has to teach us about Donald Trump’s impeachment.

John Dickinson

Lecture by Dr. Jodey Hinze, Dean

John Dickinson wanted to be a lawyer. Instead, he reluctantly became a revolutionary. He opposed American Independence and refused to sign the Declaration. But when war came, he joined the American cause and helped draft America’s first constitution. A man of great principle and integrity, he was respected by his fellow revolutionaries, even if they were frequently frustrated by his reluctance to throw off British rule.

James Iredell

James Iredell of North Carolina was one of the leading political and legal figures of the revolutionary era. He defended the American Revolution at great personal cost, as his wealthy uncle disinherited him for doing so. A lawyer and a judge who truly loved the law, Iredell helped organize North Carolina’s court system and laws. He later led North Carolina’s Federalists during the debate over the ratification of the Constitution and in 1789, he became one of President Washington’s first appointments to the Supreme Court.

Martha Washington

When she married George Washington in 1759, Martha Dandridge Custis was a young “agreeable widow” who brought into the union two children and her deceased husband’s vast estate. Martha’s life over the next three decades became more than a new life with George. It became a life intertwined with an American people rising to independence from Britain. Through her roles as wife and mother, Martha became a “founding mother” of a new American nation.

Phyllis Wheatley

Lecture by Dr. Emily Stelzer

Brought from West Africa to colonial Boston in 1761, a slender and sickly girl of seven or eight years was purchased by the prominent Wheatley family and given the “Christian name” of the slave ship that brought her here. Her aptitude and interest in reading the Bible, classical literature in translation, and British poetry led  to her own poetic efforts, through which she became an international sensation. Her poetry reflects a commitment to Christianity and support for American patriots in the Revolutionary War, and offers penetrating and provocative reflections on slavery, the value and fragility of all human life, and the great importance of freedom.

Abigail Adams

Lecture by Dr. Doni Wilson

Abigail Adams was not only the wife of John Adams, but also well read, politically engaged, and the author of private letters to her husband that gave insight into the fraught political atmosphere of the American Revolution. By examining her writings, we can see her concerns and hopes for a new nation.

Mercy Otis Warren

Lecture by Dr. Sara Frear

In the heated political atmosphere of Massachusetts in the early 1770s, a series of “dramatic sketches” appeared in Boston newspapers lampooning local officials and delighting readers who supported the growing resistance movement. The anonymous author, remarkably, was a woman. Mercy Otis Warren’s political passion and satirical wit helped to galvanize the American Revolution.