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