Breyer, O'Connor to attend event at OU

Published: January 18, 2008

NORMAN — A current and former U.S. Supreme Court Justice will visit the University of Oklahoma next week to participate in an investiture ceremony for Robert H. Henry to the position of chief judge for the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Justice Stephen Breyer, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court since 1994, and Sandra Day O'Connor, who served on the nation's highest court until 2006, both will participate in the ceremony.

"The university is proud to host this event, which honors one of our law graduates, Robert Henry, and his exceptional record as a member of the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals," OU President David L. Boren said in a statement.

Breyer will address OU law students and faculty at 4 p.m. Thursday as the keynote speaker for the Henry Family Lecture on Jurisprudence, and both Breyer and O'Connor will join Boren in a fireside chat Thursday evening.

Both justices will participate Friday in the ceremony for Henry, which begins at 1:30 p.m. at the Donald W. Reynolds Performing Arts Center. Other participants will include Gov. Brad Henry, Robert Henry's cousin, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author N. Scott Momaday, who will give a poetry reading.

Robert Henry was appointed to the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in 1994 by then-President Clinton. The Denver-based court serves six states: Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah. Federal appeals courts are one step below the Supreme Court.

A graduate of the University of Oklahoma law school, Robert Henry previously served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives and was the state attorney general from 1987 to 1991. He was dean of the Oklahoma City University law school from 1991 to 1994, when he joined the appeals court.

Also next week, three-member panels of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals will sit for oral arguments at the OU Law Center on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

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