Constitution expert Adler will lecture here May 9

By DAVID TOWNSEND

Special to The Press

COEUR d’ALENE — The eighth annual Coeur d’Alene Public Library lecture by Dr. David Adler will examine the limits on presidential actions imposed by the U.S. Constitution.

“Constitutional Conservatism and the Limits of Presidential Power” will be presented Thursday, May 9 at 7 p.m. in the library Community Room, 702 E. Front Ave. The doors will open for this program at 6 p.m.

The free lecture is sponsored by the Coeur d’Alene Press, the Idaho Humanities Council, the Friends of the Library, and CDA-TV.

The lecture will be recorded by CDA-TV for broadcast and to create DVDs that will be added to the library’s collection. The talk will also be available through the city’s YouTube channel and by a link on the library’s Facebook page.

Adler is president of Alturas Institute, a nonprofit organization created to promote civic education and civil dialogue. He has taught courses on the Constitution and the Supreme Court at all three universities in Idaho. He has held the Andrus Professorship at Boise State University and the McClure Professorship at the University of Idaho, where he held a joint appointment in the College of Law and the Department of Political Science.

Previously, he was professor of political science and director of the Center for Constitutional Studies at Idaho State University. He remains a lecturer at the University of Idaho College of Law. A recipient of teaching, civic and writing awards, Adler has published in the leading journals of his field, and has lectured nationally and internationally on the Constitution, presidential power and the Bill of Rights. He has delivered more than 600 public lectures throughout Idaho and writes frequent Op-Ed pieces for newspapers across the state.

The author of more than 100 scholarly articles, essays and book chapters, Adler has published widely on the Constitution and presidential power. His books include: the two-volume work, “American Constitutional Law;” “The Constitution and the Conduct of American Foreign Policy;” “The Presidency and the Law: The Clinton Legacy;” “The Constitution and the Termination of Treaties;” and “The War Power in an Age of Terrorism,” which was published in 2016.

His writings have been quoted and cited by the U.S. Supreme Court and lower federal courts, political scientists, historians and legal scholars, and invoked by both Republicans and Democrats in the legislative and executive branches of the federal government. He has consulted with members of Congress from both parties on a variety of constitutional issues, including impeachment, the war power and treaty termination.

A frequent commentator on state and national events, Adler’s lectures have aired on C-Span, and he has done interviews with reporters from the New York Times, Washington Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, National Review, The Nation Magazine, Mother Jones, Fox News, NPR, NBC, CNN and the BBC. Adler has served as a member of the Board of Directors of various academic, corporate and civic organizations.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and a doctorate from the University of Utah.

Lectures titles for the annual Coeur d’Alene presentation have included: “Fake News and the Freedom of the Press” in 2018, “Executive Orders and Executive Power in the Trump Presidency” in 2017, “The Supreme Court: Presidential Powers and Political Pressure” in 2016, “The Second Amendment: Fundamentals and Myths” in 2015, “The Constitution and Religion: Origins, Challenges and Accommodations” in 2014, “The State of the Presidency: Constitutional and Political Challenges” in 2013, and “Holding Government Accountable” in 2012.

This lecture series has been made possible by a grants from the Idaho Humanities Council, the state-based affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.