MEDIA ADVISORY: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to Speak at UA School of Law Nov. 11

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas will deliver the sixth Albritton Lecture at The University of Alabama School of Law Friday, Nov. 11, at 2 p.m. Thomas will speak in room 287-288 of the Law School.

President George Bush Sr. nominated Thomas as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in October 1991. Thomas received his bachelor’s degree cum laude from Holy Cross College in 1968 and his law degree from Yale Law School in 1974. He served as assistant attorney general of Missouri from 1974-1977, as an attorney for the Monsanto Co. from 1977-1979, as a legislative assistant to Sen. John C. Danforth of Missouri from 1979-1981, and as assistant secretary for civil rights in the U.S. Department of Education from 1981-1982. He chaired the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission during the Reagan and Bush Sr. administrations and attempted there to modify the application of federal affirmative action guidelines. He was nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in March 1990. He replaced Justice Thurgood Marshall on the Supreme Court.

The Albritton Fund, established as part of the Law School Foundation in 1973, underwrites the Albritton Lecture Series. The fund commemorates the contributions to the legal profession of several generations of the Albritton family of Andalusia. Including Justice Thomas, the lecture series has brought six U.S. Supreme Court Justices to the UA Law School, including Chief Justice William Rehnquist in October 2003. Associate Justice Stephen Breyer will deliver the seventh Albritton Lecture in 2006.

Media wishing to cover Thomas’ lecture are asked to notify Cathy Andreen, UA director of media relations, at 205/348-8322 or Jennifer McCracken, Law School communications manager, at 205/348-5195 in advance, and observe the following restrictions:

• Photography, video and audio taping will be allowed ONLY during the first two minutes of the lecture and only if no additional lighting is required. No flash photography will be allowed.
• Arrive early – no one will be admitted after the lecture begins.
• No equipment bags will be allowed in the lecture hall.

For more information, contact UA Media Relations at 205/348-5320.