Should the U.S. Institute Mandatory National Service?
DATE: Wednesday, November 9 2022
TIME: 12:15 pm - 1:30 pm MST
LOCATION: College of Law and Virtual Event
EVENT DESCRIPTION:
Mandatory national service (also called compulsory service) is a requirement that people serve in the military or complete other works of public service for one or two years. The U.S. military draft, created during the Civil War, is one type of mandatory national service. The U.S. has had an all-volunteer military since 1973 when President Nixon ended the draft following the extremely controversial Vietnam War which provoked huge public protests against both the war and the draft.
Public opinion is about evenly split among all Americans about mandatory national service. Young adults, who would be required to complete such service, are 39% for and 57% against. The panelists, from the S.J. Quinney College of Law, have all served their countries in the military during periods of national conflict and have diverse views about mandatory national service. Audience members will be polled about their views.
PANELISTS:
Amos N. Guiora
Amos N. Guiora is Professor of Law at the S.J. Quinney College of Law, the University of Utah. He is a Distinguished Fellow at The Consortium for the Research and Study of Holocaust and the Law at Chicago-Kent College of Law, and a Distinguished Fellow and Counselor at the International Center for Conflict Resolution, Katz School of Business, University of Pittsburgh. Guiora is a retired Lt. Col. In the Israel Defense Forces where he served in the Judge Advocate General Corps.
James Holbrook
James Holbrook is a Clinical Professor of Law Emeritus who taught negotiation, mediation, and arbitration at the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah. In 1969 he served in combat in Vietnam with the 9th Infantry Division for which service he received the Army Commendation Medal for Valor and a Bronze Star. He is an advisor to the University’s Veterans Support Center and is the Manager of Special Projects in the law school’s Career Development Office.
Leah Bench
Leah Bench is a first-year law student at the S.J. Quinney College of Law. She served in the United States Air Force as a Munitions Specialist for four years during which time she received numerous awards and an early promotion. In 2015 she deployed to Guam in the Pacific Theater to support B-52 aircraft. In 2020 she received a Master of Legal Studies degree from the College of Law and is now pursuing a legal career in military law and public policy for veteran support.
Mike Meszaros
Mike Meszaros is a 2L at the S.J. Quinney College of Law. He graduated from West Point where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in military history with a focus on the U.S. Army’s modernization and the transition to the all-volunteer force following the Vietnam War. He was an infantry officer in the Army for nine years during which he served as the Brigade Battle Captain in Nangahar Province in Afghanistan.
MODERATOR: Dean Elizabeth Kronk Warner
For questions about this event email events@law.utah.edu.
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