PLCY 388F Contemporary Issues Under the Rule of Law, Spring Semester

 The recent hearings on the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court have renewed public attention to the American courts as policy-making bodies, but there is little accurate understanding of how the Supreme Court and the judicial system over which it presides actually function. 

Using a variety of media, books, newspaper articles and special memoranda, this course introduces students to the historical and institutional framework within which the American courts make public policy, so different from how legislative and executive bodies make policy decisions. The course, more importantly, directly engages students in a detailed consideration of selected public policy questions presented by cases that have recently come before the courts in a unique series of Rule of Law Exercises where students evaluate and make their own judgments among the conflicting policy arguments.