The founding generation sought to build a new nation free of old world “corruption.” Americans used that term broadly to denote the use of government power to promote private interests rather than the general welfare. But constraining the political power of special interests has proved to be a hard task. In the 2024 Antonin Scalia Constitution Day Lecture, Professor Julia D. Mahoney will examine how the Constitution does and does not inhibit the powerful few from undermining the common good. Among the current constitutional controversies she will discuss are government pressure on social media companies to censor content, the scope of the administrative state, campaign finance regulation, and occupational freedom.

Julia D. Mahoney is the John S. Battle Professor of Law and the Joseph C. Carter, Jr. Research Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law, where she teaches courses in Constitutional Law and Property Law. Her recent scholarship include articles on government takings of property, the classical legal tradition in education, and feminism and common good constitutionalism. A graduate of the Yale Law School, she is a member of the American Law Institute and serves on the Board of Advisors of the New Civil Liberties Alliance.

Supported by the Bouton Law Lecture Fund.

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