C8. A Citizen’s Guide to the Supreme Court

This course will examine the Supreme Court as an institution. Topics will include the history and constitutional framework of the Court; jurisdictional issues; the role of the Court in the federal court system; the Court’s procedures for selecting and deciding cases; the process of nominating and confirming justices; the influence of ideology and politics on the Court’s decisions; the implications of the recent ideological shift of the Court; the increasing use of the “shadow docket”; and proposals for reforming the Court.

Required Reading: The U.S. Supreme Court: A Very Short Introduction; Linda Greenhouse (Oxford Univ Press 2012) ISBN 978-0-19-975454=0

Optional Reading: The Supreme Court; William H. Rehnquist (Vintage Books 2001) ISBN 0=375-40943-2

John S. Ross, III (Jack) holds degrees from Yale University and the University of Virginia School of Law, and practiced law for 20 years in Washington, D.C. He served as Adjunct Professor of Law at Washington and Lee University School of Law, and has taught numerous courses on constitutional law and other topics in the WISE program. Jack also facilitates the WISE Supreme Court Special Interest Group.