THE U.S. SUPREME COURT

Description. This course is designed to introduce graduate and law students to the state of the art in legal and social-scientific work on the U.S. Supreme Court and to help them translate the research in ways that will be useful for their career, whether in law or the academy. Topics include appointments to the Court;  the internal deliberative processes of the justices in reaching their decisions; relations between and among the Court and the elected branches of government; the role of law clerks, interest groups, and attorneys; and the impact of judicial decisions.

Readings. Please purchase:

1. Lee Epstein & Jeffrey A. Segal, Advice and Consent: The Politics of Judicial Appointments. Oxford University Press, 2005.
2. H.W. Perry, Deciding to Decide. Harvard University Press, 2001.
3. Lee Epstein & Jack Knight, The Choices Justices Make. CQ (Congressional Quarterly) Press, 1998.

Grades. I base your grades on class participation (about 25%) and three short essays (75%).

Click here for the course outline.
Click here for information about the essays.