The South Carolina Law Review, Vol. 77, Presents the 2026 Law Review Symposium:
Judicial Independence: Safeguard of the Constitution
The event will be held at the University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law on February 26, 2026. Registration is required! Please use the link provided below.
**REGISTRATION HERE**“
An independent judiciary is not so that judges can do what they want, but so they can do what they must.” – Justice Anthony Kennedy
The symposium will examine judicial independence in context—exploring judicial selection methods, separation of powers, and the principles of federalism and comity. Recognizing the breadth of these themes, this program will illuminate the many ways they intersect and shape one another.
8:30 AM — 9:30 AM Breakfast & Check-In
9:30 AM — 9:45 AM Opening Remarks
- William C. Hubbard, Dean, University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law
9:45 AM — 10:00 AM Introduction of Dean Erwin Chemerinsky
- Judge Joseph F. Anderson, Senior District Judge, District of South Carolina
10:00 AM — 11:00 AM Keynote Address
- Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean, UC Berkeley School of Law
11:10 AM — 12:10 PM Response Panel
- Moderator: Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean, UC Berkeley School of Law
- Derek Black, Professor of Law & Ernest F. Hollings Chair in Constitutional Law, University of South Carolina
Joseph F. Rice School of Law
- Mnotho Ngcobo, Assistant Professor of Law, University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law
- Jonathan Entin, Professor Emeritus, Case Western Reserve School of Law
12:10 PM — 1:15 PM Lunch
1:15 PM — 2:00 PM Judge J. Waties Waring and the Dissent that Changed America
- Judge Richard Gergel, District Judge, District of South Carolina
2:10 PM — 3:15 PM Discussion Panel: Comparative Judicial Selection Methods
- Moderator: M. Rhett DeHart, Partner, Adams & Reese, LLP
- Scott Bauries, Professor of Law, University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law
- Stephanie Radcliff, Editorial Staff, South Carolina Law Review
- Judy Perry Martinez, President, World Justice Project
3:30 PM — 4:00 PM Judicial Independence in Context
- Trey Gowdy, Former U.S. Representative for the 4th Congressional District of South Carolina and Current Host of Fox News’ Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy
4:15 PM — 5:15 PM Panel: Judicial Independence in Context
- Moderator: Jonathan Ellison, Senior Associate, WilmerHale
- Trey Gowdy, Former U.S. Representative for the 4th Congressional District of South Carolina & Current Host of Fox News’ Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy
- Judge A. Marvin Quattlebaum, Jr., Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- Jeffrey Stempel, Doris S. and Theodore B. Lee Professor of Law, UNLV’s William S. Boyd School of Law
- Jennifer Brobst, Associate Professor of Law, University of Memphis School of Law
5:15 PM — 5:30 PM Closing Remarks
- Grace Smith Phillips, Editor-in-Chief, South Carolina Law Review
5:30 PM — 6:30 PM Reception
6:30 PM Dinner
The Symposium will be held at the University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law on February 26, 2026.
Karen Williams Courtroom, 1st Floor, University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law, 1525 Senate St., Columbia, South Carolina 29201
