Professor and Former FEC Chair Bradley A. Smith to Give Lecture Sept. 20

September 16, 2005

One of the nation’s leading authorities on election law and campaign finance, Professor Bradley A. Smith, returns to the Law School after five years in Washington, D.C., where he served on the Federal Election Commission.

Smith will present “Washington Through the Looking Glass and What Professor Smith Found There” at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 20. A reception will follow at 5 p.m.

Named FEC chairman in January 2004, Smith oversaw implementation of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill and successfully fought to increase due process protections for defendants in FEC enforcement actions.

“Professor Smith ably served the FEC with distinction and honor during a period of unprecedented transition in how our nation’s campaigns are waged and financed,” said U.S. Rep. Deborah Pryce, a 1976 graduate of Capital Law School. “Through it all, he remained an independent freethinker and will be remembered historically for ferociously protecting our nation’s most fundamentally important right to political free speech.”

Smith said he’s pleased with the progress made during his tenure at the FEC and added, “It has been an honor to serve the government in this capacity, but I always have intended to return to academia at the end of my term. Capital has been very supportive of my work in this field. I love teaching, and I am looking forward to returning to it.”

Prior to his nomination by President Clinton in February 2000 to fill a Republican-designated seat, Smith was a fixture in the national discussion on campaign finance and was called “the most sought-after witness” when Congress considered campaign finance issues. His writings have appeared in the nation’s top law journals and in popular publications such as the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and National Review. In 2001, Princeton University Press published his book Unfree Speech: The Folly of Campaign Finance Reform, which was praised by syndicated columnist George Will as “the year’s most important book on governance.”

A graduate of Harvard Law School and Kalamazoo College, Smith has spoken at more than 30 of the nation’s law schools, and has made national media appearances on ABC, NBC, PBS, Fox, CNBC, MSNBC, C-Span and Bloomberg Media, including Hardball with Chris Matthews and the O’Reilly Factor. He also has appeared on numerous local and national radio programs and made television appearances in Great Britain, Japan and Canada.

“Bradley Smith’s return to the Law School faculty allows our students the opportunity to learn from one of the nation’s leading experts in election law,” said Dean Jack A. Guttenberg. “We are delighted to welcome back a scholar and a teacher of this caliber.”

Fro more information, contact Jessica Poprocki at (614) 236-6377.