HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — Hofstra Law School today announced that it will host “Marriage Equality and the Courts,” a discussion with two of the country’s leading marriage equality advocates, Theodore Boutrous and Richard Socarides ’79, on Monday, September 19, 2011 from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at Hofstra Law School.
The discussion, which is sponsored by Hofstra OutLaw and the Hofstra Law LGBT Rights Fellowship, will focus on the current state of marriage equality in the courts, the policy debate and the strategy behind the historic challenge to California's Proposition 8.
Theodore Boutrous, Esq., serves as a lead attorney for the American Foundation for Equal Rights, the sole sponsor of the plaintiffs in
Perry v. Brown (formerly
Perry v. Schwarzenegger), the federal challenge to Proposition 8 that was found unconstitutional by a U.S. District Court last summer. He is a partner in the Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., offices of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and is co-chair of the firm's Appellate and Constitutional Law Group. Boutrous has represented clients in the federal and state appellate courts throughout the nation in a wide variety of cases and has appeared before the Supreme Court numerous times.
Richard Socarides, Esq., ’79 is President of Equality Matters, a Washington D.C.-based gay rights group. He is also Of Counsel at Brady Klein Weissman LLP. He was previously White House Special Assistant and Senior Advisor to President Bill Clinton, serving as his chief advisor on gay civil rights from 1997-1999. Socarides has also worked as a strategist on Capitol Hill, as Special Assistant to Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), and in the media (Time Warner), entertainment (New Line Cinema), and technology (AOL) sectors. Socarides has served on the board of directors of Lambda Legal.
Media should RSVP to Kristen McMahon at (516) 463-4252 /
Kristen.D.McMahon@hofstra.edu.
