Annual John P. Frank Memorial Lecture enters its 26th year
Author, podcaster and legal correspondent Dahlia Lithwick will deliver the 26th annual John P. Frank Memorial Lecture on March 4. Photo by Nils Folke Anderson
Dahlia Lithwick, an MSNBC analyst and senior legal correspondent at Slate, is the featured speaker at the School of Social Transformation’s 26th annual John P. Frank Memorial Lecture on March 4.
She is one of the nation’s foremost legal commentators; the host of Amicus, Slate’s award-winning biweekly podcast about the law and the Supreme Court; and author of the instant New York Times bestseller “Lady Justice.” Madelaine Adelman, justice studies professor and lead planner for the event, calls Lithwick a “perfect fit” for our current moment.
The hybrid event will be held at the Westin Tempe and online via ASU Live. Find more details on the event page.
Ahead of the event, Adelman shared more about the history of the memorial lecture.
Note: Answers have been edited for length and clarity.
Question: Can you share a little about the history of the John P. Frank Memorial Lecture?
Answer: The series, which focuses on pressing law and justice issues of our time, was inaugurated in 2000 with a public lecture by renowned legal scholar Lani Guinier (1950–2022). Guinier, the first African American woman to be tenured at Harvard Law School, delivered a talk that focused on race and democracy.
Over the years, we have hosted world-class speakers including Supreme Court justices, civil rights and nonprofit leaders, journalists and legal scholars. Our most recent speakers were Neal Katyal (2021), Masha Gessen (2022), Michele Goodwin (2023) and Matthew Desmond (2024). We look forward to our conversations with Dahlia Lithwick this year.
Q: What inspired the creation of this event to honor John P. Frank?
A: We established the series to honor John P. Frank (1917–2002), whose lifelong work resonated so well with the core mission of the justice studies faculty. Frank was a lawyer, constitutional scholar, historian, author and mentor here in Arizona. Frank served on the team that represented Ernesto Miranda before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1966 — the case in which the high court ruled that suspects must be advised of their right to legal counsel. Frank wrote or delivered arguments for numerous First Amendment and desegregation cases and made important contributions to the historical brief for Brown v. Board of Education.
The School of Social Transformation is proud to host the John P. Frank Lecture series, which is made possible through the generosity of the law firm Womble Bond Dickinson (formerly Lewis Roca), which Frank joined in 1954, along with Frank's many friends and admirers. We welcome support to help us continue to host campus and community conversations with brilliant scholars, journalists and civic leaders.
Q: What is one of your most memorable events, and what made it so special?
A: We hosted Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Jan. 23, 2017, the Monday after the presidential inauguration. Gammage Auditorium was packed. At the end of her formal comments, Justice Sotomayor left the stage, still wearing what some of us call a “Madonna mic,” and walked down the steps into the audience. She made her way across an entire row, all the while fielding questions and holding onto a baby that a parent had offered to her. It felt like a rock concert, or a Duke basketball game, where the entire crowd is tuned in together to what they know will be remembered as a transformative experience. People still talk with me about what this evening meant to them.
Q: Why do lecture donors continue to donate and come back each year?
A: The original cadre of donors — who turned to the then School of Justice Studies to build a lecture series in honor of Frank — attend each and every public talk, and are also involved during the year in helping to secure some of our speakers. They share a deep commitment to the hard work and relationships required to pursue fairness, equity and justice within and beyond the legal system. We also have fun connecting with each other — including members of the John Frank family — while learning from the guests we invite to ASU.
Q: Why was Lithwick selected to speak this year?
A: A year in advance, we try to anticipate timely issues that will align with our community’s interests and concerns, and then identify the right person to address them. This year we sought out a speaker who could address the intensifying debate over the role of the state — and courts in particular — in extending the protection of law within our democracy to people who are otherwise excluded. Lithwick’s keen reporting and reflection on law and politics, especially regarding the Supreme Court, which she delivers across multiple channels of public communication, such as book author, podcast host, columnist and magazine senior editor, made her a perfect fit for this moment.
For more information about the March 4 event, visit the John P. Frank Memorial Lecture website.
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