U.S. Supreme Court Justice Scalia to speak in Fort Smith

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia will be in Fort Smith on Feb. 26 to speak at the first of three Winthrop Paul Rockefeller Distinguished Lecture Series that are focused on the history of the U.S. Marshals Service.

The event, which also serves to raise awareness about the effort to raise money for the U.S. Marshals Museum planned for downtown Fort Smith, will be held at 1 p.m., at the Fort Smith Convention Center. The event is free, but seating is limited. Reservations will be required for admission and those may be made by emailing [email protected]. School groups should contact the museum for details on group reservations. 

Lisenne Rockefeller, wife of late Lt. Governor Winthrop Paul Rockefeller, made a grant to the museum in mid-2014 to fund the national lecture series. The three-year series is designed to host officials from the executive, judiciary and legislative branches of the U.S. government to Fort Smith to speak about the U.S. Marshals’ history with each branch. 
 
“My husband would have been pleased to know that Justice Scalia will launch the inaugural presentation of this national lecture series named in his honor,” Lisenne Rockefeller said in a statement. “I look forward to having Justice Scalia in Arkansas to highlight the interwoven history of the judiciary branch and the U.S. Marshals Service.”
 
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 1986, Justice Scalia has served as an associate justice for the U.S. Supreme Court for more than 27 years, and is the Court’s longest serving justice. Originally from New Jersey, Justice Scalia earned his bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and his law degree from Harvard Law School. He practiced law in Ohio before joining the faculty of the University of Virginia School of Law. 
 
Justice Scalia served in the Nixon and Ford administrations before joining the American Enterprise Institute and teaching at the University of Chicago Law School. It was from there that President Reagan first appointed him to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in 1982 and the U.S. Supreme Court four years later.

U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia will introduce Justice Scalia. Judge Hudson is a former director of the U.S. Marshals Service under President George H.W. Bush. 
 
MUSEUM PLANS, FUNDRAISER
The planned $53 million museum's construction is a three-phase project, starting first with site work before moving to building construction and finally design and installation of exhibits to be housed at the museum celebrating the United States' oldest law enforcement agency.

In January 2007, the U.S. Marshals Service selected Fort Smith as the site for the estimated 20,000-square-foot national museum. The museum is to be built on 15.9 acres along the Arkansas River that is being donated by the Robbie Westphal family.

A ceremonial groundbreaking was held in September, and museum officials hope to have the facility open by late 2017.

The museum will host its first ever “U.S. Marshals Stampede: Kickin’ Up the Dust” fundraiser on March 14, 2015, at Kay Rodgers Park in Fort Smith. The event will feature entertainers including the Austin, Texas-based headline act Asleep at the Wheel.

In addition to the musical acts, the museum said it would also recreate an Old West Town with a separate casino and saloon area, which will feature games including blackjack and Texas Hold'em. There will also be casino prizes, open bars, "Kickin' Up the Dust" cocktails, mechanical bull riding, a live auction with exclusive premium items and more.

Museum books as of early December showed $19.5 million in cash, pledges and land value. That does not include an estimated $4 million-$5 million from U.S. Marshals Commemorative coin sales that could be provided for exhibit and artifact costs for the museum.