Akhil Reed Amar, an American legal scholar and constitutional law expert, will deliver the College of Law’s Lane Lecture at noon Oct. 20.

Amar, professor of law at Yale University, will discuss “The Constitution Today.” The talk, which is free and open to the public, is at the College of Law.

For the first time in our lifetime — and for one of the few times in modern history — all four major federal institutions of power were in play in the last election. When the two national conventions met in 2016, Democrats had a real chance to win control of the House, Senate, presidency, and Supreme Court. Instead, Republicans swept the field and now control all four institutions, even though Donald Trump lost the (legally irrelevant) national popular presidential vote.

For the talk, Amar will discuss the constitutional significance of the election and will touch upon a wide range of modern cases and controversies — from gun control to gay rights, from the electoral college to campaign finance to filibuster reform. Attendees are encouraged to bring and share questions about the past, present and future of America’s constitutional law system.