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Taking a closer look at the Supreme Court

April 4, 2006

KALAMAZOO--As the Supreme Court debates such controversial issues as the judicial rights of enemy combatants, a presentation on Monday, April 10, on the Western Michigan University campus will try to make sense of it all.

Dr. Lawrence Baum, professor of political science at Ohio State University, will deliver the annual Sam Clark Lecture from 7:30 to 9 p.m. in the South Ballroom of the Bernhard Center. His talk is titled "Making Sense of the Supreme Court" and is sponsored by the WMU Department of Political Science's Institute of Government and Politics. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Baum has research and teaching interests in American politics, with a primary emphasis on judicial politics. His research has focused on such topics as the determinants of judicial behavior, implementation of judicial decisions, the roles and behavior of specialized courts, and voting behavior in judicial elections.

Baum is author of the books "The Puzzle of Judicial Behavior," "The Supreme Court" and "American Courts: Process and Policy." He has published in such journals as the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science and the Journal of Politics. He has been chair of the Law, Courts and Judicial Process section of the American Political Science Association and has been a member of several editorial boards.

While at WMU On April 10, Baum also will have an informal discussion with political science faculty and students from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in Room 3301 of Friedmann Hall.

The Sam Clark Lecture is an annual event honoring Dr. Samuel L. Clark, WMU professor emeritus of political science and the founding dean of the Lee Honors College. For more information, call Dr. Gunther Hega, WMU associate professor of political science and the institute's director, at (269) 387-5885.

Media contact: Mark Schwerin, (269) 387-8400, mark.schwerin@wmich.edu

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