The Rule of Law in a New Era

The Union League Club of Chicago (ULCC) is hosting its second in a series of discussions about the rule of law, a topic of increasing importance in these uncertain times. In the inaugural event, in October 2025, we learned what the rule of law is. It is a standard for evaluating political regimes. The rule of law requires political regimes to be evenhanded, to give fair notice, to make laws that are clear, consistent, and congruent with what law enforcement actually does. Now, we turn to applying that concept.

Join the ULCC Public Affairs Committee for an illuminating luncheon discussion on the rule of law in the Second Trump Administration. Our guest participants are Professor Aziz Huq and Professor Paul Gowder. Huq is the Frank and Bernice J. Greenberg Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School. Gowder is the Frederic P. Vose Professor of Law at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. The discussion will be moderated by Raff Donelson, Professor of Law and Philosophy at Illinois Tech, a member of the ULCC Public Affairs Committee, and Chair of its Civic Education subcommittee.

Cost: $35.00 (plus tax and gratuity) | Attire: Smart Casual

Space is limited. Advance registration is required.

Aziz Z. Huq is a scholar of US and comparative constitutional law. His recent work concerns democratic backsliding and the regulation of AI. His award-winning scholarship is published in several books and in leading law, social science, and political science journals. He also writes for Politico, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and many other non-specialist publications. In 2015, he received the Graduating Students Award for Teaching Excellence. He has an active pro bono practice and is on the board of the Seminary Coop and the ACLU of Illinois. Huq holds a BA from UNC-Chapel Hill and a JD from Columbia.

Paul A. Gowder is a political theorist and legal scholar. His research focuses on the rule of law, democratic theory, social and racial equality, institutional and organizational governance, law and technology, and classical Athenian law and political thought. Before becoming a professor, he was a civil rights and legal aid lawyer. In those contexts, he represented victims of police misconduct, predatory lending, employment discrimination, unlawful eviction, domestic violence, and numerous other injustices. He is the author of three books: The Rule of Law in the Real World (Cambridge, 2016), The Rule of Law in the United States: An Unfinished Project of Black Liberation (Hart/Bloomsbury 2021), and The Networked Leviathan: For Democratic Platforms (Cambridge 2023). Gowder holds a BA from Cal State – Los Angeles, a JD from Harvard, and a PhD in Political Science from Stanford.

Raff Donelson is an interdisciplinary scholar working at the intersection of legal theory and moral philosophy. While his philosophical writing focuses on the foundations of ethics and on questions about the nature of law, his legal research centers on police, criminal suspects, and the plight of incarcerated persons. As a founding coordinator of the Policing, Policy, and Philosophy Initiative (3PI), Donelson has worked to promote philosophical research on policing and to connect academics with policymakers and practitioners, so that theory and practice can inform each other. Recently named a 2026–2027 Illinois Humanities Road Scholar Speaker, he travels the state, sharing his insights and perspective on complex legal issues with local communities. Donelson holds a BA from Williams College, an MA from the University of Chicago, a JD and PhD in Philosophy from Northwestern.

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