Professors James E. Fleming and Linda C. McClain, both from Boston University School of Law, will be the McGlinchey Lecturers March 21 at 5 p.m. in the law school's John Giffen Weinmann Hall, Room 110. A reception will follow.

The duo's lecture is titled " A 'Fixed' or Exploding Star in our Constitutional Constellation?: West Virginia v. Barnette and Battles over “What Shall be Orthodox” " and will address the 1943 case in which the Supreme Court struck down a  compulsory flag salute in public school. The case contains some of the most stirring and frequently-quoted passages ever penned in a judicial opinion and Fleming and McClain will unpack the case's impact on current culture war battles. 

Fleming and McClain have overlapping expertise in the areas of constitutional law and family law.  They have previously authored a book together, "Ordered Liberty: Rights, Responsibilities, and Virtues," 2013, by Harvard University Press. McClain is well known for her work at the intersection of family law and constitutional law, represented most recently by her 2020 book, "Who’s the Bigot? Learning from Conflicts over Marriage and Civil Rights Law."  Fleming is known widely for his work on constitutional theory, including the theory of constitutional interpretation.