Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito joined other prominent judges and scholars at the University of Florence, Italy, to discuss Notre Dame research that is helping to forge the field of U.S.-Italian comparative constitutional law. This conference was part of an ongoing “Italian-American Constitutional Dialogue” sponsored by the Program on Constitutional Structure.
Italian Constitutional Justice in Global Context
The first session of the conference addressed a draft book on Italian constitutional law that Notre Dame law professor and Kellogg Institute director Paolo Carozza is co-authoring with Justice Marta Cartabia of the Constitutional Court of Italy and Professors Vittoria Barsotti and Andrea Simoncini of the University of Florence. The book, entitled “Italian Constitutional Justice in Global Context,” addresses the history of the Constitutional Court of Italy, important principles of Italian constitutional law, and the Constitutional Court’s relationship with European institutions. The book is designed to provide a thorough account of constitutional justice in Italy and to help pioneer comparative studies of the U.S. and Italian constitutional systems. The session of the conference addressing the book brought together prominent judges and scholars from both countries.
United States – Italian Judges Panel
In the second session of the conference, four U.S. and Italian jurists—Justice Alito, Judge Calabresi, Justice Cartabia, and Judge Sutton—held a panel discussion on the role of judges deciding constitutional questions in the U.S. and Italy.
Italian-American Constitutional Dialogue
This event was the second formal conference sponsored by the Program on Constitutional Structure as part of its Italian-American Constitutional Dialogue, enjoying additional support this year from the Kellogg and Nanovic Institutes at Notre Dame, as well as the University of Florence in Italy. The purpose of the Italian-American Constitutional Dialogue, according to Professor A.J. Bellia, is “to promote comparative constitutional work between the U.S. and Italy. With Professor Carozza’s latest collaboration, Notre Dame not only is promoting such work—we are pioneering it.”
Participants
Participants in the conference included:
Hon. Samuel Alito
Supreme Court of the United States
Prof. Vittoria Barsotti
University of Florence
Prof. A.J. Bellia
University of Notre Dame
Hon. Marta Cartabia
Constitutional Court of the Republic of Italy
Hon. Guido Calabresi
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Hon. Sabino Cassese
Constitutional Court of the Republic of Italy
Prof. Paolo Carozza
University of Notre Dame
Prof. Cesare Pinelli
University of Rome, La Sapienza
Prof. Vicki Jackson
Harvard Law School
Prof. Andrea Simoncini
University of Florence
Hon. Jeffrey Sutton
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Prof. Vincenzo Varano
University of Florence