September 03, 2010

Lecture looks at health care law's constitutionality

by Pete Rosenbery

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The constitutionality of the nation’s health care legislation with respect to the ninth and 10th amendments is set for discussion next week at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Kurt T. Lash, the Alumni Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Illinois College of Law, will present the lecture at 5 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 8, in room 206 of the Hiram H. Lesar Law Building at Southern Illinois University School of Law.

The lecture is free and open to the public. The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, a registered student organization, is sponsoring the event. Light refreshments follow the lecture.

The Ninth Amendment of the Constitution deals with the enumerated powers not specifically addressed in the Constitution. The 10th Amendment underscores the federalist system that separates powers among the federal and state governments and people and reserves those powers not specifically given to the federal government for the states and people.

President Barack Obama signed health care reform legislation into law in March.

Lash is also co-director of the University of Illinois College of Law’s Program on Constitutional Theory, History and Law. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Whitman College and his degree from Yale Law School.