Up-and-coming law students were all dressed up for an elegant evening at the Park Plaza Hotel last night, complete with dinner, dancing and a speech by Kenneth Starr.
Starr’s speech was for the most part an approbation of the Supreme Court decision to take a commanding role in deciding the outcome of the 2000 presidential struggle between candidates George Bush and Al Gore.
According to Starr, the Supreme Court, “our nation’s highest legal institution,” could have “decided not to decide,” and let the duty fall to the Florida state courts. However, when controversy arose over Florida’s 25 electoral votes, all nine justices of the Supreme Court declined to leave the decision to the state courts. Starr praised this decision, saying, “At the end of the day, that was what the legislation proved to be about.”
Starr was introduced by the Honorable James Lawton, Chairman of the New England School of Law Board of Trustees. Lawton received laughter and applause for his reference to Starr’s effort with “the most thankless assignment any lawyer in our country has ever undertaken, with the exception of John Adams’ defense of the British soldiers who killed Americans during the Boston Massacre.”
Starr also triggered a few laughs with his reference to “that which my family and I refer to as the ‘recent unpleasantness.’”
“I expected a pro-Conservative, pro-Republican speech,” said Thomas Brooks, a first-year law student. “He made a distinct effort to distance himself from the issue, which softened the crowd.”
According to Brooks, the speech was “catered to the environment.
“There was a deliberate effort to show that he wasn’t in favor of the Supreme Court’s decision, but that it was still a good decision.”
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