Texas Tech will host U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia at 5 p.m. today at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center's Exhibit Hall.
Walter Huffman, the dean of the School of Law, said Tech School of Law alumni Mark Lanier, who worked with Scalia in the past, invited and provided the funding for Scalia to visit Lubbock and speak as the second speaker in conjunction with the Sandra Day O'Connor Distinguished Lecture Series. The lecture series was founded in 2007 and features accomplished legal professionals.
"Scalia's presentation is to the community at large," he said. "You must have a ticket to attend but tickets are free and available at the law school."
As of Thursday, Huffman said, approximately 500 tickets remained for the lecture in the Exhibit Hall, which seats approximately 5,000 people.
Arthur R. Miller, a New York University professor at the NYU School of Law, who Huffman considers "the best known legal scholar," will introduce Scalia at the event.
"We're really bringing in two distinguished guests for the price of one, but (the lecture) happens to be free," Huffman said.
Scalia was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan and took his seat on the bench Sept. 26, 1986, according to the Supreme Court's Web site.
Scalia is the third Supreme Court Justice to visit Tech. Justice O'Connor spoke as the inaugural speaker of the Sandra Day O'Connor lecture series and Justice Clarence Thomas visited but not in conjunction with the O'Connor Lecture Series.
No other Texas law school has ever had a Supreme Court Justice visit, he said.
"It's a great honor to bring a third Supreme Court Justice to Tech," Huffman said. "It's not an easy thing to get Supreme Court justices to come to (Lubbock). It speaks volumes about our law school."
Huffman said Scalia will speak to Tech law school students in "more technical terms" at an event Monday.
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