200 see, hear Nader welcome Phil Donahue, law Professor Akhil Reed Amar Event sponsored by Museum of Tort Law

John Torsiello / Hearst Connecticut Media Yale Professor Akhil Reed Amar, left, and Phil Donahue. John Torsiello / Hearst Connecticut Media Yale Professor Akhil Reed Amar, left, and Phil Donahue. Photo: Digital First Media Photo: Digital First Media Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close 200 see, hear Nader welcome Phil Donahue, law Professor Akhil Reed Amar 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

By, John Torsiello

WINSTED >> Around 200 people crowded into the United Methodist Church, located next to the America Museum of Tort Law, Sunday afternoon to listen to two legends of social, consumer and political activism, Winsted’s own Ralph Nader and longtime television host Phil Donahue.

Nader was on hand to welcome the crowd, while Donahue was present to serve as moderator for a discussion with Yale Professor Akhil Reed Amar, one of the nation’s leading constitutional and legal minds, who addressed a broad range of issues. The event was sponsored by the museum.

“It’s fitting that we have Professor Amar here today on Constitution Day (celebrating the ratification of the U.S. Constitution),” Nader, a former presidential candidate, told a rapt audience. He also praised his friend Donahue, on whose talk show Nader appeared more than any other guest. “Phil provoked and challenged minds on his show and took on government, corporations and others for the benefit of people who had no voice on some matters. Phil gave them that voice.”

Donahue, recalled the first time he met Nader while Donahue was doing a talk show in Pretoria, Illinois, greeting the activist unannounced at an airport in Kentucky, introducing himself and asking if he would come on his show. “I imagined in my head that he would say, `Well, you drove all the way here to meet me so how can I say no?’” Donahue said. “And that’s exactly what he said.”

On Donahue’s show, Nader tackled a number of issues, many of them concerning auto safety and the misdoings of big business.

Donahue praised the American Museum of Tort Law (he is a founder). He called the museum “a place where the law comes alive.”

The 81-year-old Donahue is an iconic American personality, writer and film producer best known as host of “The Phil Donahue Show” — the first TV talk show to include audience participation. The show had a 29-year run.

The 59-year-old Amar was formerly the Southmayd Professor of Law at Yale Law School and was named a Sterling Professor of Law in 2008 and adjunct professor of law in Columbia Law School in 2012.

Amar has written a number books, most recently “The Constitution Today; Timeless Lessons for the Issues of Our Era.” His work has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court in over 30 cases. Amar was actually a consultant to a highly popular TV show, “The West Wing.” He has served as a visiting professor of law at Pepperdine School of Law and at Columbia Law School. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2007.

Amar said the American Museum of Tort law reminded him of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, adding, “Both of these places show us our responsibility to uphold the law and guarantee that `We the People’ never loses its importance. Sometimes I think Americans take their liberties and legal system for granted. I was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, but my parents came from India and my family instilled in me how important our legal system and laws are.”

Amar, during a question-and-answer session, called for a more compassionate jury selection system that allows greater flexibility and monetary compensation for those who are called to serve; bemoaned the fact that Democrats and Republicans have not been able to reach a middle ground on what he terms “unauthorized” aliens in the country and DACA; said that he understands individuals’ desire for what the Constitution terms “defensible borders”; and offered his notion that the Electoral College might be outdated and that a national election might be better decided by straight popular vote.

Donahue closed the event by reprising his famous walk-through of the crowd and welcomed questions for Amar, which a number of members of the audience obliged.

The American Museum of Tort Law was developed by Nader in his hometown. The museum focuses on “topics of civil justice and aspects of the legal system that handle wrongful actions that result in injury.” The museum opened to the public in September 2015 and is the first law museum in the United States.

For more information on the museum, its exhibits and events, visit www.tortmuseum.org.