Tonight was the 2019 Stein Lecture US Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan at the University of Minnesota. Luckily I was able to get tickets and attended with my friend Kristen. It was a fun Q & A session with Justice Kagan and a UMN law professor, but he did not ask very good questions and even told the audience that he had a few student questions, but only law students and not students from any other departments as too many non-law students had asked too many questions at last years event. Justice Kagan was a lot funnier than I expected and talked about things like hunting with Justice Scalia, but interesting no mention of RBG or the other ladies of the Court. It lasted exactly one hour and five minutes.
What was not fun was that it was a organizational disaster. There were huge lines, they did not let people in on time, security was a joke with multiple people asking if our tickets had been scanned and then there was a quick wand over of people, but no real effort was taken to check people (looking at some of the hired security as I waited in line, I suspect they could not save themselves let alone anyone else that was in attendance if there had been an emergency). Then there was the issue with the cell phones. On the tickets, on the website for the event, and other places it says “Rules of courtroom decorum will be followed. No purses, backpacks, bags, umbrellas, cell phones, cameras, or recording devices will be allowed in the theater. We encourage you not to bring them. Coat check will be available if needed.” So I left my cell phone back in my office only to get to the event and find that 90% of those in attendance had a cell phone. I asked security walking by about the no cell phone notice on the tickets and he said “turn off your phone and put it in your pocket”. He did not care. So basically those in attendance who were mainly former law students aka lawyers and law students (with a few others thrown in that could get tickets to this sold out event) obviously did not read the directions or they decided to ignore the rules. An interesting commentary on the legal profession don’t you think?
There was a reception after in the lobby which consisted of lemonade and cookies. I noticed an M & M cookie in the middle of a pile of sugar cookies and grabbed it. It even made the trip all the way back to my office!
Since I had abandoned my cell phone in my office, I asked a student next to me to take a photo of the stage and he kindly sent it to me. Thanks J.E.!
(photo and info http://www.northrop.umn.edu/events/2019-stein-lecture-us-supreme-court-justice-elena-kagan?utm_source=Event-Info-elena-kagan&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=elena-kagan ; photo by J.E.)