First Amendment Origins Lie in Ancient Greece with Socrates, Plato

Jeff Harrison
Jan. 11, 2000


What
"The Trial of Socrates: The Foundation of Democracy" by John P. Frank, the 15th Annual Town and Gown Lecture, sponsored by the Division for Late Medieval and Reformation Studies and cosponsored by the classics and history departments at the University of Arizona in Tucson

When
Tuesday, March 7, at 7:30 p.m.

Where
Rogers College of Law, Ares Auditorium, Room 146, located on the northwest corner

Cost
Free and open to the public

Contact
Media: Luise Betterton, 626.5448
Public: 621.1248

While engrossed in the activities of contemporary law courts, John P. Frank has continued to probe the history of democracy reaching all the way back to ancient Greece. In his March 7 lecture, Frank will argue his conviction that without Plato's vision of justice, the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States would not have been written.

Frank, known as one of America's foremost experts on constitutional law, has written 11 books and numerous articles on legal history. After serving as law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Hugo L. Black, he taught at Indiana University and Yale University, and currently is a senior partner in the Phoenix law firm, Lewis and Roca.

Frank has been included in the National Law Journal's list of the "100 Most Influential Lawyers in America" as well as in the Best Lawyers in America. He was a general counsel to the Arizona Democratic Party, director of the Alliance for Justice and chairman of the Senior Advisory Board for the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Among many other high honors including honorary doctorates, in 1997 he received the Lewis F. Powell Jr. Award from the American Inns of Court Foundation, presented in the chamber of the U.S. Supreme Court. He has been involved in more than 500 legal appeals in his years with Lewis and Roca.

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