A18. The United States Supreme Court

This course will examine the Supreme Court as an institution. Topics will include the history and constitutional framework of the Court, the role of the Court in the federal and state court systems, the Court’s procedures for selecting and deciding cases, the influence of ideology on the Court’s decisions, the process of nominating and confirming justices, and trends of decisions under various Chief Justices.  Class discussion will be encouraged. 

GROUP LEADER:  John S. Ross III holds degrees from Yale University and the University of Virginia School of Law, and practiced law for 20 years in Washington, D.C. He taught law at Washington and Lee University and a class on separation of church and state in the WISE program. 

OPTIONAL READING: 

The US Supreme Course - A Very Short Introduction, Linda Greenhouse, Oxford University Press, c. 2012, ISBN 978-0-19-975454-0