Inaugural Gathering

“Law and the Permanent Things”
Saturday, October 22, 2016

The Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal
Mecosta, Michigan

T.S. Eliot spoke of the “permanent things,” which Russell Kirk famously described as “those elements in the human condition that give us our nature, without which we are as the beasts that perish.” Lawyers and others from around the United States attended the inaugural gathering, which featured engaging presentations on the theme of "Law and the Permanent Things" by the Honorable Stephen Markman, Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court; the Honorable Joseph Scoville, Magistrate Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan (Ret.); Gerald Russello, attorney and author of The Postmodern Imagination of Russell Kirk; and Dr. Lee Edwards, Distinguished Fellow at the Heritage Foundation.

Schedule
 
9:30-9:45
Welcome and Introduction
        Maxwell Goss, Ph.D.
Attorney
 
9:45-10:00
“Russell Kirk and the Permanent Things”
Annette Kirk
President, Russell Kirk Center
 
10:00-11:00
“The War of American Law on Human Nature"
The Honorable Joseph G. Scoville
Magistrate Judge, Western District of Michigan (Ret.)
 
11:00-11:15
Break

11:15-12:15
“Kirk, Brownson, and Territorial Democracy”
Gerald Russello
Attorney and Author
 
12:15-1:15
Lunch
 
1:15-2:00
​Break
 
2:00-2:45
Business Meeting (Optional)
 
2:45-3:00
"The Origins of Originalism"
Dr. Lee Edwards
The Heritage Foundation

3:00-4:00
Keynote Presentation
“Russell Kirk’s Constitution"
The Honorable Stephen J. Markman
Justice, Michigan Supreme Court
 
4:00
Reception