Justice Scalia is coming to town…

to be the keynote speaker at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law’s event on “Originalism and the Jury“.  This exciting event is hosted by the Ohio State Law Journal, and I really like the plug that participant Orin Kerr gives this “very cool symposium” in this post at The Volokh Conspiracy:

We’ll discuss the Sixth and Seventh Amendment jury trial rights, their original meanings, and to what extent courts should or are likely to match the modern jury trial right to what existed at the time of the framing.   The symposium is notable for the unusually diverse perspectives of the speakers: It features judges, professors, and practitioners in roughly equal numbers.  Justice Scalia will deliver the keynote address.

Along with Orin and Judge Nancy Gertner and Professor Stephanos Bibas, I am on the Sixth Amendment panel.  I will be presenting the (radical?) idea that the Framers likely would have wanted juries to play a role in modern habeas actions.  But, candidly, I am most excited to hear what all the other participants have to say about originalism and juries.  And, of course, I am also excited to hear what Justice Scalia has to say about these topics. 

I suspect I will be off-line most of Tuesday while this event is on-going, though perhaps I will find time late in the day to blog about aspects of the event.  I may also try to keep track of how many times Blakely gets mentioned throughout the symposium, though I am not sure if I should count all the times I mention the case in my own remarks. 

UPDATE:  As detailed in this AP report, Justice Scalia focused on originalism rather than on the jury in his keynote speech.  The entire event was remarkable, and I enjoyed all of the panel presentations tremendously.  I also had the honor of sharing a table with Justice Scalia at dinner and was able to confirm first-hand what a personable and engaging gentleman he is.