Published: April 17, 2007

Erwin Chemerinsky, a nationally known U.S. Supreme Court expert and lawyer for outed CIA agent Valerie Plame, will present a lecture titled "Protecting the Press" at the University of Colorado Law School.

The talk will take place at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 24, and is free and open to the public. The lecture will be followed by a 5 p.m. reception.

As one of the nation's most famous and respected constitutional law scholars, Chemerinsky has had his pick of high-profile cases. This May, he will argue Plame's civil lawsuit against numerous Bush administration officials, trying to persuade a judge that she and her husband, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson, had their free speech, due process and privacy rights violated.

A Duke University law professor, Chemerinsky has argued a number of recent U.S. Supreme Court cases on such polarizing issues as challenging a Texas Ten Commandments monument, a First Amendment case concerning the permissibility of injunctive relief as a remedy in defamation cases, and an injunction to stop violent protests at reproductive health care facilities.

He also testified before the U.S. Senate's judiciary committee on the hearings of Samuel Alito for confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court. His books include Federal Jurisdiction (2003); Constitutional Law: Principles and Policies (2006); and Constitutional Law (2005). He has also authored more than 100 law review articles and writes a regular column on the U.S. Supreme Court for California Lawyer, Los Angeles Daily Journal and Trial magazine.

Chemerinsky joined Duke's law school in 2004 after 21 years of teaching law at the University of Southern California. In 2005, Legal Affairs magazine named Chemerinsky one of "the top 20 legal thinkers in America" and from 1998 to 2003 the Daily Journal listed him as one of the 100 most influential lawyers in California.

He has received awards from the Criminal Courts Bar Association, the Society for Professional Journalists, the Western Center on Law and Poverty and the Anti-Defamation League.

Chemerinsky's lecture will be held in CU-Boulder's new Wolf Law Building, which is located on Kittredge Loop Drive. The lecture will count toward one general Continuing Legal Education credit.

For more information visit .

Established in 1892, the University of Colorado Law School is a top-25 public law school. The school's 500 students, selected from among the statistically best applicants in the nation, represent 100 undergraduate institutions and diverse backgrounds.

The school has dual degree programs in business, environmental studies, telecommunications, and public affairs. Its highly published faculty is dedicated to interacting with students inside and outside the classroom. The school's eight clinics and three centers focus on areas of strength, including natural resources and environmental, American Indian, juvenile and family, telecommunications policy and sustainable energy law.