Preface.

AuthorGeiser, Michael P.

Volume 26 begins, as always, with the Federalist Society Student Symposium. The students who gathered in New Haven were treated not only to a variety of interesting panels and discussions on "Law and Truth," but also to a celebration of the Federalist Society's 20 years of battling liberal orthodoxy in the legal academy through the promotion of free and open debate. It is fitting, therefore, that we begin this issue with an Introduction by David McIntosh, who recalls the early days of the Federalist Society and a charges us to continue its vital mission.

The theme of the 2002 Symposium, "Law and Truth," gives the lie to Plato's portrayal of lawyers as mere servants debating fellow-servants before their masters, who have no time to contemplate truth. The Symposium includes panels in which lawyers and philosophers together explore the nature of truth and its intersection with the legal system, the relation of lawyers to the truth, and systemic elements, such as the search and seizure exclusionary rule, that promote or hinder the law's ability to determine truth.

Issue 1 also includes several articles of value to lawyers and legal scholars who seek the truth. David Schoenbrod's article Politics and the Principle that Elected Legislators Should Make the Laws provides a fresh insight into the current state of the nondelegation doctrine, the application of which, the author argues, is limited by political rather than legal obstacles. It also demonstrates the continuing importance of this principle and holds out hope that it may be recovered. Lino Graglia takes on The Myth of the Conservative Supreme Court by arguing that the Rehnquist Court, far from being a conservative judicially activist Court, as is often assumed by the press and legal academics, merely follows in the liberal activist footsteps of the Warren and Burger Courts before it. Vernadette Ramirez Broyles offers a timely look at President Bush's Faith-Based Initiative with an eye toward protecting the free speech rights of faith-based organizations who participate in Charitable Choice programs.

We also include Major William Wilcox's reply to an article by William Lee that appeared in our "Law and the War on Terrorism Issue"...

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