Osler's Razor

April is shaping up to be a busy month. Here is what I have on the docket:

1) For months now, the Law Journal at St. Thomas has been putting together a symposium on clemency, which will be held on Friday, April 20. It really is going to be a stellar line-up. It is open to all (if you register), and you can get more info here. I will be moderating the morning and afternoon sessions. Here is the plan:

8:45 a.m. Welcome
Marc Spooner, Editor-in-Chief, St. Thomas Law Journal

8:45 a.m. Commutations: Past and Present

P.S. Ruckman, PardonPower.com
Jeffrey Crouch, American University
David Zlotnick, Roger Williams University School of Law
Cecelia Klingele, University of Wisconsin School of Law
Margaret Colgate Love, PardonLaw.com and Private Practice

11:00 a.m.
Keynote Address “Pardons and Commutations: Observations from the Front Lines”
Gov. Robert Ehrlich, Former Governor and Congressman of Maryland

12:30 p.m.
Hot Topics, Cool Talks “Commutation as Negation of a Sentence”

Judge Richard Sullivan , U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Marc DeGirolami, St. John’s University School of Law

1:45 p.m.
Imagining Strategic Clemency

Dafna Linzer, ProPublica.org
Doug Berman, The Ohio State University, Michael E. Moritz College of Law
Steve Chanenson, Villanova Law School
Dan Kobil, Capital University School of Law

3:45 p.m.
One Commutation: Three Perspectives

Judge David S. Doty, U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota
Judge Denise D. Reilly, Minnesota District Court Judge and a former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the State of Minnesota
Serena Nunn, Recipient of a Sentence Commutation

5:00 p.m. Concluding Remarks

2) Next up, on Wednesday, April 25, the LuAnn Dummer Center for Women at St. Thomas is sponsoring a lecture of mine over on the St. Paul Campus on civil discourse about the Marriage Amendment in Minnesota.

3) Finally, on Sunday, April 29, I will be giving the Richard Byrd Chair in Preaching sermon at St. Martin's-By-The-Lake Episcopal Church, and the 8:30 and 10:30 services, which are open to all.