James Madison Lectures

Watch: The 2021 James Madison Lecture was given by Judge Jane Kelly of the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

The Madison Lecture is one of the most important lecture series at the NYU School of Law. Begun in 1960, the lectures are designed to enhance the appreciation of civil liberty and strengthen the sense of national purpose. The series was inaugurated by Justice Hugo L. Black, who propounded his famous theory of the absoluteness of the First Amendment. Since then, more than a dozen US Supreme Court Justices and more than two dozen US Court of Appeals judges have delivered the Madison Lecture.

Judge James Wynn Jr. critiques Supreme Court’s Rucho v. Common Cause ruling in Madison Lecture

Judge Gerard Lynch examines the ambiguity of exercising judicial restraint

Judge Bernice Donald considers the merits of dissents in James Madison Lecture

Sandra L. Lynch, Constitutional Integrity: Lessons from the Shadows, 92 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 623 (2017).

Rosemary Barkett, "Bringing Human Rights Home"? I Thought They Were Already Here! Human Rights and Our Constitution, 91 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 535 (2015).

Anthony J. Scirica, Judicial Governance and Judicial Independence, 90 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 779 (2014).

William Fletcher, Our Broken Death Penalty, 89 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 805 (2013).

Robert A. Katzmann, Statutes, 87 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 637 (2012).

Robert H. Henry, Living Our Traditions, 86 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 673 (2011).

M. Blane Michael, Reading the Fourth Amendment Guidance from the Mischief that Gave It Birth, 85 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 905 (2010).

Marsha S. Berzon, Securing Fragile Foundations: Affirmative Constitutional Adjudication in Federal Courts, 84 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 681 (2009).

J. Harvie Wilkinson III, Toward One America: A Vision in Law, 83 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 323 (2008).

Michael Boudin, Judge Henry Friendly and the Mirror of Constitutional Law, 82 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 975 (2007).

Pierre N. Leval, Judging Under the Constitution: DICTA about DICTA, 81 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 1249 (2006).

Diane P. Wood, Our 18th Century Constitution in the 21st Century World, 80 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 1079 (2005).

David S. Tatel, Judicial Methodology, Southern School Desegregation, and the Rule of Law, 79 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 1071 (2004).

Guido Calabresi, Federal and State Courts: Restoring a Workable Balance, 78 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 1293 (2003).

Stephen Breyer, Our Democratic Constitution, 77 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 245 (2002).

Lord Irvine of Lairg, Sovereignty in Comparative Perspective: Constitutionalism in Britain and America, 76 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 1 (2001).

Martha Craig Daughtrey, Women and the Constitution: Where We Are at the End of the Century, 75 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 1 (2000).

Stephen Reinhardt, The Anatomy of an Execution: Fairness vs. "Process," 74 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 313 (1999).

Richard A. Posner, Against Constitutional Theory, 73 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 1 (1998).

Richard S. Arnold, How James Madison Interpreted the Constitution, 72 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 267 (1997).

Harry T. Edwards, To Err Is Human, But Not Always Harmless: When Should Legal Error Be Tolerated?, 70 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 1167 (1995).

Betty B. Fletcher, Death Penalty in America: Can Justice Be Done, 70 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 811 (1995).

Jon O. Newman, Beyond "Reasonable Doubt," 68 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 979 (1993).

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Speaking in a Judicial Voice, 67 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 1185 (1992).

Sandra Day O'Connor, Portia's Progress, 66 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 1546 (1991).