Suffolk Law Professor's Remarks on Contemporary Government Themes in Henry V

On June 15, my colleague Allison Trzop and I were lucky enough to attend a most remarkable event, a reading of large sections of Shakespeare's Henry V by a group of distinguished lawyers and judges. The evening was sponsored by the Federalist Society's Boston Lawyers Chapter and the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, and hosted by George Bush's former Chief of Staff, Andrew Card. After the lively reading, we were treated to a fascinating panel discussion with Bernard Dobski, an expert on Shakespearean politics; John Yoo, former deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he worked on national security and terrorism after 9/11; and Michael Avery, a professor at Suffolk University Law School, the author of numerous articles as well as editor and co-author of several books on civil rights law and evidence.  We managed to persuade Prof. Avery to allow us to post his opening remarks.  You might want to take a quick look at the play, just to refresh your memory.

Helene Atwan
Director

Good evening. I would like to thank Daniel Kelly and the Federalist Society for inviting me to this very interesting event, and for giving me an opportunity to speak about the contemporary relevance of some of the themes addressed in Henry V. I respect the fact that the Federalist Society frequently invites some of us from the left side of the aisle to share our perspective with you. I will try to honor that by speaking as plainly and candidly as Montjoy does to the King.