A conversation with Judge Jed Rakoff, moderated by Professor Karthik Ramanna.

Although the Judicial Branch of the US Government enjoys a power and independence greater than the judiciary of virtually any other nation, its record in serving as a check to excessive or even unconstitutional actions by the executive branch of the US Government is spotty at best. This public lecture will explore the most prominent past cases in which the willingness of the US judiciary to contain the US executive within constitutional bounds was put to the test, as well as the judicial precedents that arose as a result of those cases, and will speculate as to how this all bodes for challenges to the exercise of American executive power that are likely to arise in the future.

Speaker biography

Jed S. Rakoff has served for 21 years as a federal judge in the largest federal court in the US, located in Manhattan. He has presided over some of the most famous cases in that court, including international criminal cases, insider trading cases, securities fraud cases, international banking cases, and much more.

In addition, Judge Rakoff teaches four courses at Columbia Law School and helps train judges from nations throughout the world. In 2014, he was listed by Fortune Magazine as one of the World's 50 Greatest Leaders.