Celebrate America's 250th

Location: Laurel Hall, Room 320 - Mount Laurel Campus - 

Join RCBC as we welcome the Honorable Marianne Mele for a lecture on Natural Rights, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and how it still resonates in today's environment.  This is part of RCBC’s series of events celebrating America’s 250th.

Speaker Bio:

Hon. Marianne R. Mele has over 45 years of legal experience, practicing in New Jersey, New York, Washington D.C., Virginia and before the U.S. Supreme Court. She has taught as an adjunct professor of law in Washington D.C., Northern Virginia and Brooklyn Law School and gives lectures on the U.S. Constitution at local New Jersey colleges and high schools.

Ms. Mele was General Counsel at High Frontier which was an independent study creating the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) for President Reagan. In that capacity she defended SDI against LucasFilms, Ltd who accused High Frontier of misappropriating the use of George Lucas’s Star Wars trademark.

Ms. Mele’s victory over LucasFilms, Ltd won her the award for the “junk lawsuit of the year” and an appointment to the Senior Executive Service reporting directly to President Reagan’s White House. Her confirmation with the Advice and Consent of the U.S. Senate grants her the title of Honorable for life.

The Strategic Defense Initiative was discussed at the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks 2 (SALT 2) in Reykjavik, Iceland, where President Reagan told USSR General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev that he would continue with the SDI and walked out.  Many credit that as the beginning of the end of the cold war and the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Strategic Defense Initiative systems are in use today, in Israel and soon in the U.S. part of which is Israel’s Iron Dome and soon to be President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome defensive systems.

For more information please contact:

Ken Mariano, Assistant Professor, Political Science

KMariano@rcbc.edu

Allison Millward, Assistant Professor, History

AMillward@rcbc.edu

This is event is free and open to the public.