EUGENE–Equality and justice are not interchangeable, says legal scholar and human rights advocate Aviam Soifer.

Soifer, former dean of Boston College Law School and author of a groundbreaking study of the legal treatments of groups, will deliver a free public lecture at the University of Oregon on Monday, Oct. 26. He is currently on the faculty of Boston College Law School and is a regular columnist for "The Jewish Advocate."

The speech, "To Do That Which Is Right and Good: Full and Equal Justice," will focus on the obligation, in both American and Jewish law, to go beyond simply treating like cases alike in order to achieve both justice and righteousness.

The lecture begins at 7:30 p.m. in Room 129 in Grayson Hall, 1101 Kincaid St. The UO School of Law and the UO Judaic Studies Program are sponsors of the talk.

"In many cases, treating individuals equally is insufficient for doing justice," Soifer explains.

"Equality is a form of justice we haven’t achieved," he says. "If we had, we would still have to consider differences among people and context to reach full justice."

"Should grandparents simply divide their estate equally among all their grandchildren, or should they base bequests on need? It’s not so easy to answer this question," he says.

Soifer says he will use legal cases, public policy issues and family life to illustrate his argument that humans have an obligation to go beyond the letter of the law in order to strive for a greater justice.

The talk is one of several events planned at the UO this academic year in conjunction with the Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies which was approved last June and will begin in the fall of 1999. The program is supported in part by a $1.5 million gift from the Harold and Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation.

For more information, contact law professor James O’Fallon, (541) 346-3870.

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