Law professor to speak on revising Nevada constitution

April 2, 2009 by Tessie Perkins 

Lecturer thinks state laws outgrowing needs of population, require review

Nevada needs a new constitution, according to one Boyd Law School professor.

Professor Tuan Samahon, who teaches about constitutional law and federal courts, will present “Battle Born, Battle Worn: The Case for a New Nevada Constitution” in a lecture April 14 at 7:30 p.m.

Samahon aims to show why Nevada should follow two-thirds of states in the US and revise its constitution to accommodate the evolving needs of citizens.

He plans to address “how our elected officials have compensated for our aging Nevada state constitution by experimenting with novel political arrangements – attempted workarounds – that are probably unconstitutional and are certainly undemocratic.”

“There are structural alternatives to these fixes,” Samahon said, “but it probably requires a comprehensive constitutional revision rather than an ad hoc amendment at the ballot box.”

Samahon is hoping to teach students that legal scholarship is relevant to legal and political life in Nevada. He is passionate about the legal workings of Nevada and chose the topic for his lecture because of his experience with the last legislative session.

“We have had several potentially significant constitutional crises,” he said, “one involving a governor who claimed authority to act unilaterally without further legislative input and another involving an oligarchic legislative body that purported to act on behalf of the whole legislature when it was out of session.” 

The lecture will be an opportunity for Samahon to educated UNLV students as to  how and why constitutional revisions will affect all of us.

Boyd Law School professor Peter Bayer explained why he expects Samahon’s presentation to be excellent.

“I know him as a colleague and I hold him in the highest regard,” he said. “His intellectual curiosity and depth is matched by his courteous and energetic manner. He loves debating ideas and is open to all arguments.”

Samahon has been a professor at UNLV since 2004 but will be leaving the law school at the end of the semester for a new position at Villanova Law School in suburban Philadelphia.