The Roberts Court: A New Direction for the Supreme Court

If the Warren Court represented a historic era for expanding Constitutional rights in the U.S., the current Roberts Court has been no less momentous, mostly in a different direction.  In this course, led by Jess Velona, a former law clerk for then-appellate judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, we will review key Roberts Court decisions cheered by conservatives, such as overruling Roe v. Wade, expanding Second Amendment rights, weakening the Voting Rights Act, invalidating affirmative action, and holding former presidents immune from criminal prosecution for their official acts; as well as occasional rulings hailed by liberals: upholding Obamacare and invalidating bans on same-sex marriage.  We also will examine how the Court has responded to expansive assertions of executive power by the new Trump Administration.  Finally, we will assess common critiques of how the Roberts Court goes about its work - does it too often fail to respect precedent, use inconsistent methods of interpretation, issue important emergency rulings with little explanation, and give short shrift to judicial ethics, all of which could weaken respect for the judiciary and the rule of law?
Continuing Education Units (CEU) : 0

You'll walk away with

• Identify and explain the Roberts Court’s most significant decisions and their impact on constitutional rights
• Analyze the Court’s interpretive methods, treatment of precedent, and approach to judicial ethics
• Evaluate how the Court’s rulings shape public trust, the balance of powers, and the future of the rule of law

Ideal for

• All members of the community—working, retired, and in between
• Those seeking to contextualize historical or contemporary political events