MORGANTOWN – The late C. Edwin Baker was a leader in constitutional and communication law as well as free speech, which is why the West Virginia University College of Law continues his legacy in a lectures series.
The professor, who passed away in 2009, is honored annually with notable speakers at the C. Edwin Baker Lecture for Liberty, Equality and Democracy. This Oct. 23 at 1 p.m. Hugh Collins, vinerian professor of English law at Oxford University in England, will speak at the event, which is open to students and the public. Collins will discuss "Private Law, Fundamental Rights and the Rule of Law."
“When he died, I promised his sister that I would keep his legacy alive through this lectureship,” Anne Lofaso, Arthur B. Hodges Professor of Law, told The West Virginia Record. “So every year, I search the globe for law professors who are internationally recognized for the highest-quality legal scholarship and whose work reflects these values.”
Oxford University law professor Hugh Collins
| West Virginia University College of Law
Former Yale Law Dean Robert Post and Columbia Law Professor Vincent Blasi, who were close collaborators to Baker, have spoken at the series, she added. Lofaso said as the vinerian professor, Collins sits in the chair first held by Sir William Blackstone, author of the Commentaries on the Laws of England, a compilation of the laws of England written in the eighteenth century and originally published just a few years before the United States declared independence from Britain.
“I think it very doubtful that [the United States], and other English-speaking countries would have so universally adopted the common law," Lofaso said. “Thus, to have the Vinerian Professor of English Law speak at WVU truly is a treat worthy of the Baker Lecture.”
On the contrary, it is Collins who said he is honored to speak at the lecture, especially since it will his first trip to West Virginia.
"My presentation asks how far it is appropriate for the values contained in bills of rights such as liberty and equality to govern relations between private individuals in the law of contract, tort and property," Collins said in a statement to The West Virginia Record.
America could learn much from European law, according to Collins.
"In my view, common law jurisdictions, like the USA and the UK, need to do more in this respect, if they aspire to live up to William Blackstone’s claim (speaking before the American Revolution) that ‘The idea and practice of…political or civil liberty flourish in their highest vigor in these kingdoms, where it falls little short of perfection,’” Collins said.
Recalling the late professor, Lofaso said Baker believed in a press free from both government and corporate coercion.
“It also includes a press that may freely criticize our government – a luxury that many countries, such as Russia or North Korea, do not currently enjoy,” Lofaso said, noting these values are currently under attack. “When the press is not allowed to do its job or its integrity is put in doubt, then our democracy loses an important check on power.”
She said the series is a gift to students and the public alike.
“Students have told me that they have been impressed with the speakers and have been honored that these speakers have so freely given their time to WVU students and the public,” Lofaso said. “Moreover, most of the speakers have eventually published their remarks in the West Virginia University Law Review. These published lectures significantly contribute to the body of legal knowledge.”
For more information on the upcoming lecture at the WVU College of Law, 101 Law School Drive, Morgantown, call 304-293-5301 or email wvulaw@mail.wvu.edu.
