Jenkins has found someone to substitute for Mary Ann Glendon.  John T. Noonan, Jr., a Reagan appointee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

A jurist of note, one of the rare voices of sanity on what is often referred to in legal circles as the “Ninth Circus”,  Noonan is also a scholar of standing.  Here is a list of his books.  Noonan’s pro-life credentials are impeccable.  He was fighting against legal abortion before Roe, and his writings on the subject speak for themselves.  Noonan is a dissenter on the teaching of the Church against contraception.  If he has ever retracted his writings on the subject I am unaware of it.

Noonan, a 1984 recipient of the Laetare Medal, will deliver an address at the commencement, and the Medal will not be awarded this year.  I hope my candidate for the Medal is not crushed.

If Noonan were to debate Obama on the issue of abortion, I of course would have no difficulty with this event.  As it is, Jenkins has found himself another figleaf for Obama Day.