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    Civil Disagreements Debate Series

    A series of moderated debates on current, critical, and often, contentious, civic questions sponsored by the American Bar Association's Division for Public Education, the American Constitution Society (Chicago and Austin, TX chapters), the Federalist Society (Chicago chapter), and Reform for Illinois.

    Upcoming program

    Chevron, Power, and the Future of Regulation

    Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo overturned the Chevron doctrine, a legal precedent that guided how federal courts treated agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes. Under the Chevron doctrine, a court would prioritize an agency's interpretation, citing the agency employees' expertise in the relevant data, science, and general subject matter. Environmental issues, for example, would be best handled by the Environmental Protection Agency. This allowed federal agencies to enact regulations in many areas--e.g. environmental protection, healthcare, labor, worker safety. Striking down the doctrine means courts will no longer automatically defer to agencies' interpretations of ambiguous laws; instead, they will exercise independent judgment.

    Jun 3, 2025 10:00 AM PT - Register

    More recent programs

    Presidential Self-Pardoning Power

    Today’s political circumstances raise the possibility of a second pardon of a former (and perhaps future) president, Donald Trump. Currently on trial on state criminal charges in New York, the former president faces three more potential criminal trials before or after the upcoming presidential election. A second state court trial remains pending in Georgia, and two criminal cases remain pending on federal charges. The prospect of convictions in any of these cases raises an intriguing question: If Trump is re-elected in November, will he have the power to pardon himself? And even if he does, should he?

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    Bail Reform in Illinois and Beyond

    Illinois became the first state in the nation to eliminate cash bail last year. Our panel discussion explores the implementation of the reform, confronts myths and realities around the law, and considers broader implications for the justice system in Illinois and the nation.

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    Is Trump Constitutionally Disqualified for Re-Election?

    Today’s political circumstances raise the possibility of a second pardon of a former (and perhaps future) president, Donald Trump. Currently on trial on state criminal charges in New York, the former president faces three more potential criminal trials before or after the upcoming presidential election. A second state court trial remains pending in Georgia, and two criminal cases remain pending on federal charges. The prospect of convictions in any of these cases raises an intriguing question: If Trump is re-elected in November, will he have the power to pardon himself? And even if he does, should he?

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    Past Programs

    Independent State Legislature Theory

    The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to decide the monumental voting rights case Moore v. Harper. The case concerns a legal doctrine known as the independent state legislature, which asserts that state legislatures have exclusive power--not subject to federal or state courts--to govern all aspects of elections, electors, and voting registration and procedures. The theory is rooted in the Elections and Electors Clauses of the U.S. Constitution. It first appeared in legal arguments during the 2000 Presidential Election, when votes in Florida were in dispute. In the current case, it's about Congressional redistricting following the 2020 Census.

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    Originalism and the Constitution

    Does the Constitution establish the right to have an AR-15? What about rights to birth control and abortion? In the modern era, is the death penalty “cruel and unusual” punishment even though the Constitution recognizes it multiple times? How, in a dynamic world, should one interpret the Constitution to answer those questions? Many views exist, among them those dubbed “originalism,” “textualism,” and “The Living Constitution.” Even views among the Supreme Court Justices vary, both contemporaneously and over time.

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    Supreme Court Reform

    Not since the New Deal has the United States Supreme Court been under as much scrutiny as in the past several years, in part because of the passionate views of Americans on both sides of the abortion debate. Bipartisan concern with suggestions of “court packing,” strategically-timed retirements, the hostility of the confirmation process, and the potential intimidation of Supreme Court justices has led observers on both sides of the political aisle to suggest that, instead of lifetime appointments, Supreme Court justices be appointed to staggered, fixed length terms. Yet the devil is in the details, and sometimes the devil we know may be preferable to the devil we don’t.

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