Public Square Lecture Series
Public Square Lecture Series
« back to Politics & Picking Judges: Uneasy Bedfellows
Professor of Political Science and Law
University of Wisconsin – Madison
Editor, Law & Society Review
Professor and author Herbert Kritzer brings a refreshing empiricism, rooted in the social sciences, to his work in law and politics. He has made studies of various aspects of civil procedure, the performance of legal advocates, and Supreme Court decision-making. Currently, Professor Kritzer holds a joint appointment at the University of Wisconsin Law School and Department of Political Science. He has also served as served as director of the Center for Law, Society, and Justice at the University.
Prior to the University of Wisconsin, Professor Kritzer taught at Rice University and Indiana University, was a visiting fellow at University College, London, and was a visitor at William Mitchell. An award-winning writer and editor, he has authored, co-authored, and co-edited numerous books and journal articles on legal and judicial subjects. He serves as editor of Law & Society Review, the official journal of the Law and Society Association.
Professor Kritzer has also served as a consultant and advisor in a variety of law-related settings, including the Wisconsin Equal Justice Task Force and the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s study of user evaluations of Wisconsin’s courts. He has testified before Congress on civil justice reform and has made presentations to the World Bank, the Wisconsin chapter of Inns of Court, National Conference of State Legislators, and the Wisconsin Judicial Conference.
» More about Professor Kritzer on his University of Wisconsin home page
Citizens Commission for the Preservation of an Impartial Judiciary
Former Governor of Minnesota, U.S. Congressional Representative, and State Senator
As a former Minnesota Governor, U.S. Congressional Representative, and State Senator, Al Quie has a diverse perspective on the judiciary system. He also has a lively interest in making sure it functions fairly. Currently, he serves on the Citizens Commission for the Preservation of an Impartial Judiciary.
A born-and-bred Minnesotan, Governor Quie grew up on a farm near Dennison, Minnesota, graduated from St. Olaf College with a degree in political science, and served as a pilot in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Before entering politics, his career included owning and operating a dairy farm, serving as a clerk for the District 43 School Board, and working as a supervisor for the Rice County Soil Conservation District. He was a member of the Minnesota state senate, 1955-1958, and served in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1958-1979. He was the 35th governor of Minnesota from 1979 to 1983 and is a member of the Republican Party.
Professor, Humphrey Institute for Public Affairs
Director, Center on Women and Public Policy
University of Minnesota
Sally J. Kenney, professor, joined the Humphrey Institute faculty in 1995, where she was appointed Director of the Center on Women and Public Policy at the University of Minnesota.
Blending legal and social critique, her research interests include judicial selection, feminist social movements, the European Court of Justice, exclusionary employment policies, and pregnancy discrimination. She served as a consultant to the US Congress House Education and Labor Committee on discrimination resulting from fetal protection policies.
She earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in politics from Princeton University, a B.A. and M.A. in politics, philosophy, and economics from Magdalen College, Oxford, and a B.A. in political science from the University of Iowa. She held joint appointments in political science, women's studies, and law at the University of Iowa, before joining the faculty at the Humphrey Institute.
She is the author of“For Whose Protection? Reproductive Hazards and Exclusionary Policies in the United States and Britain, and is the co-editor of Politics and Feminist Standpoint Theories and Constitutional Dialogues in Comparative Perspective. Her work has been published in Comparative Political Studies, Law and Social Inquiry, Political Research Quarterly, Women and Politics, and Judicature as well as in law reviews.
Scholar-in-Residence to the California Judicial Council
Chair, Justice At Stake Board of Directors
Former California State Justice
Former President, National Center for State Courts
The Honorable Roger K. Warren brings an in-depth knowledge of the courts and judiciary to this discussion. He is president emeritus of the National Center for State Courts, where he had served as president and chief operating officer for more than eight years. He is also the scholar-in-residence at the California Judicial Branch. Judge Warren served in the Sacramento, California, courts for two decades, as presiding (administrative) judge of the Superior Court, the Municipal Court, the consolidated Superior and Municipal Courts, the Juvenile Court, and the Appellate Department of the Superior Court. He also served as executive director of Legal Services of Northern California.
Under Judge Warren’s leadership, the National Center for State Courts doubled its services to state courts and justice systems around the world. As a judge, he founded the Sacramento Court Appointed Special Advocates program and Sacramento Child Advocates, Inc., which provide legal representation to minors in all Sacramento abuse and neglect proceedings. He has been given national awards by the Justice Management Institute, the National Conference of Court Public Information Officers, the National Association of State Judicial Educators, and the American Judges Association in 1996. He has also been named California Jurist of the Year and Sacramento Judge of the Year three times.
Warren received his J.D. and an M.A. in political science from the University of Chicago, and a B.A. from Williams College. He served on a Fulbright Fellowship in Iran.