By Will Wright

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U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito will teach three different classes while he is on campus to give a speech, courtesy of UK College of Law.

Alito, who is considered one of the more conservative Supreme Court justices, will serve as a temporary professor for an administrative law course, a course on federal courts and a course about criminal procedure.

In addition to teaching law students, Alito will give a speech Thursday at 6 p.m. addressing common questions people have about the court and how the judicial process works.

Sloane Skinner, a law junior and president of UK’s Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, a student-led group that advocates for limited government, said meeting Supreme Court justices shows law students what they can accomplish after graduation.

People within the law school allowed students and faculty to submit questions for Alito when he speaks as the Fall 2015 Roy R. and Virginia F. Ray Distinguished Lecturer in the Kincaid Auditorium, a new auditorium in the Gatton College of Business and Economics.

Advanced registration was required. By print time Wednesday, registration was closed.

Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan spoke in 2013, and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas spoke in 2012.

“(An) advantage to programs like this is it humanizes people who are revered in American society,” said David A. Brennen, dean of the UK College of Law. “They’re just such engaging people.”

Skinner said one of her more liberal professors even confessed to liking Justice Thomas when he spoke in 2012, despite Thomas’ reputation as one of the most conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices.

Alito will have lunch with the Federalist Society and their more liberal counterpart, UK’s American Constitution Society for Law and Policy.

“It kind of brings everyone together,” Skinner said. 

Alito does not charge UK a dime for the lecture, but money from the Ray Lecture Endowment Fund will pay for his $4,500 travel costs. In addition, the fund will pay Alito $6,000 to teach the three courses.

With governmental officials like Supreme Court justices, you have to figure in the cost of security and the U.S. Marshals who travel with the justices, Brennen said.

The new Kincaid Auditorium could be a way to showcase what’s possible in the College of Law’s own building campaign. Brennen said there is a plan for a public area where the college can host public lectures.

Brennen said he hopes the lecture will “showcase for our potential donors … what’s possible in our own building.”