Anita Hill To Deliver Law School Lecture

Anita Hill, the law professor who accused then-U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment, will deliver the 26th annual William O. Douglas Lecture Jan. 17 in Spokane.

The lecture series, sponsored by Gonzaga Law School and the Gonzaga Student Bar Association, has included four U.S. Supreme Court justices, the latest of which was Antonin Scalia in 1994.

The 1996 lecturer was Charles J. Ogletree, Jr., a Harvard University law professor who served as lawyer for Hill during her testimony against Thomas in 1991.

The lecture series traditionally focuses on First Amendment issues and was initiated by Douglas, the late U.S. Supreme Court justice from Yakima, in 1972.

Following the nomination of Thomas for a Supreme Court position, Hill publicly accused Thomas of sexual harassment when she worked for him.

The Hill-Thomas hearings have been the subject of several books, including “Strange Justice” by journalists Jane Mayer and Jill Abramson. Despite the inflammatory hearings, Thomas was confirmed, replacing Thurgood Marshall on the high court.

After the hearings, Hill returned to her position as a law professor at the University of Oklahoma, a position from which she resigned in October, saying she “wants to work in an uncompromising academic environment.”

Although traditionally held on the GU campus, Hill’s lecture will be at The Met at 7:30 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

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