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SCOTUS: Law and Politics

A Mini-Course Offered by the NU Emeriti Organization and EPL

An introduction to the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS), a Janus-faced institution--it is both legal and political--that is at once central and ill-fitted to our democracy.

A two-part non-credit, no charge mini-course offered in partnership between the Northwestern Emeriti Organization (NEO) and Evanston Public Library.

About this course: Once you grasp the central contradiction of the Court’s role—that it is both a legal and a political institution—you will be in a good position to evaluate its work, which in this mini-course we will proceed to do. The Supreme Court’s 2021 Term begins on October 4. This class has two goals: (1) to highlight the major decisions of the preceding eight months as well as those yet to be resolved by the end of the Term in June or early July; and (2) to assay the recommendations of the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States whose report will be submitted in Fall 2021.

Your instructor, Professor emeritus Jerry Goldman, retired from Northwestern University in 2011 after 36 years on the faculty. He was professor of political science and among the first holders of the Charles Deering McCormick Professorship of Teaching Excellence. He is the recipient of numerous national awards for his creative use of information technology for research and teaching. He is also the founder of OYEZ, a searchable multimedia database of Supreme Court oral arguments and opinion announcements dating to October 1955.

Readings for this mini-course will be circulated to all registered participants several weeks before the first class session. When you register, by default you will be registered for both class sessions, on April 26 and May 3. However, attendance of both sessions, though strongly recommended, is not required.

Originally planned as a hybrid event--both in person and virtual--this mini-course has been changed to virtual only. 

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