The Roberts Court

August 2017

Outline & Readings

Notes:
(1) These are recommended readings. Don't worry if you can't get to all of them before the start of the seminar.
(2) This is hardly an inclusive list of the many studies on the Roberts Court. If you are interested in additional readings, please contact Lee Epstein.

I. Introductory Material

1. The Course

2. The Supreme Court

   1. Overview of Processes and Procedures

   2. Some Historical Context

3. The Justices of the Roberts Court

4. Roberts Court's Greatest Hits (So Far) and What's to Come

5. Researching the Court

Readings

• Lee Epstein & Thomas G. Walker, Constitutional Law for a Changing America: Institutional Powers and Constraints 9th ed. (Washington, D.C: CQ Press, 2017), pp. 11-23
  

• Adam Liptak, Supreme Court Ruling Makes Same-Sex Marriage a Right Nationwide, New York Times, June 26, 2015

• Adam Liptak, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, No Fan of Donald Trump, Critiques Latest Term, New York Times, July 19, 2016

• Adam Liptak, Supreme Court Agenda in the Trump Era? A Justice Seems to Supply One, New York Times, November 28, 2016

• Adam Liptak, Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Revive Travel Ban, New York Times, June 2, 2017

• The U.S. Supreme Court Database (take a look at the documentation section)

• The U.S. Supreme Court Justices Database (again, look at the documentation)

II. The Justices of the Roberts Court

1. How Did They Get There? Trends in Judicial Selecton

   1. Vacancies

   2. Selection

   3. Confirmation

2. Is There a Roberts Court?

Readings

• Lee Epstein & Jeffrey A. Segal, Advice and Consent (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 47-83

• Lee Epstein, William M. Landes, & Richard A. Posner, The Behavior of Federal Judges (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2013), Chapter 8 (esp. pp. 337-368)

• Adam Liptak, Trump’s Supreme Court List: Ivy League? Out. The Heartland? In., New York Times, November 14, 2016

• Adam Liptak Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan Muse Over a Cookie-Cutter Court, New York Times, September 5, 2016

• Adam Liptak, How Trump Chose His Supreme Court Nominee, New York Times, February 6, 2017

• Alicia Parlapiano & Karen Yourish, Where Neil Gorsuch Would Fit on the Supreme Court, New York Times, February 1, 2017

• Adam Liptak, Avoid, Sidestep, Retreat: Justices’ Advice on Confirmation Tactics, New York Times, March 19, 2017

III. Access to the Court

1. Petitions

2. Processing Petitions

3. The Role of Clerks

4. Certworthy Petitions and the Roberts Court

5. The Decline in the Plenary Docket

Readings

• Michael Kimberly and Kristin Liska, The Statistics of Relists, SCOTUSblog, September 14, 2015

• Adam Liptak, Gorsuch, in Sign of Independence, is Out of Supreme Court’s Clerical Pool, New York Times, May 1, 2017

• Adam Liptak, A Sign of the Court’s Polarization: Choice of Clerks, New York Times, September 6, 2010

• Start reading The Echo Chamber (A Small Group of Lawyers and Its Outsized Influence at the U.S. Supreme Court), Reuters, December 8, 2014.

• Adam Liptak, Justices Opt for Fewer Cases, and Professors and Lawyers Ponder Why, New York Times, September 29, 2009

• Adam Liptak, Justices Disclose Privately Paid Trips and Gifts, New York Times, June 22, 2016

IV. Lawyering

1. Types of Lawyers

2. Tools of Lawyering: Briefs, Oral Argument

Readings

• Adam Liptak, America’s Appellate Lawyer Recaps 5 Years of Legal ‘High Drama’, New York Times, June 11, 2016

• Adam Liptak, Why Obama Struggles at Court, and Trump May Strain to Do Better, New York Times, January 23, 2017. (The L. Epstein/E. Posner study is here.)

• Review: The Echo Chamber (A Small Group of Lawyers and Its Outsized Influence at the U.S. Supreme Court), Reuters, December 8, 2014

• Adam Liptak, Justices Offer a Receptive Ear to Business Interests, New York Times, December 18, 2010

• Adam Liptak, Specialists’ Help at Court Can Come with a Catch, October 9, 2010

• Adam Liptak, Seeking Facts, Justices Settle for What Briefs Tell Them, New York Times, September 1, 2014

• Adam Liptak, Clarence Thomas Breaks 10 Years of Silence at Supreme Court, New York Times, February 29, 2016

• Lee Epstein, William M. Landes, & Richard A. Posner, The Behavior of Federal Judges (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2013), Chapter 7

V. Decision Making on the Roberts Court

1. Processing Cases

2. Writing Opinions

3. Legalism: Precedent and the Roberts Court

4. Realism: Ideology and Activism

5. External Forces: Public Opinion Here and Legal Developments Elsewhere

Readings

• Lee Epstein, William M. Landes, & Richard A. Posner, The Behavior of Federal Judges (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2013), Chapters 1,3,6

• Adam Liptak, Locking in Votes and Doling Out 'Dogs', New York Times, November 9, 2015

• Adam Liptak, In Dissents, Sonia Sotomayor Takes On the Criminal Justice System, New York Times, July 4, 2016

• Adam Liptak, How Activist is the Supreme Court?, October 13, 2013, SR4

• Adam Liptak, Justice Breyer Sees Value in a Global View of Law, New York Times, September 12, 2015

VI. The Media and the Public

1. Covering the Court

2. The Justices and the Media

3. Effect of the Court on Public Opinion

Readings

• Adam Liptak, Our Supreme Court Reporter Sets a Personal Record and Hopes for a Break, New York Times, July 1, 2015

• Adam Liptak, Scotus: A Gloriously Predictable Beat ... Until It Wasn’t, New York Times, April 10, 2017

• Adam Liptak, Ruth Bader Ginsburg Regrets Speaking Out on Colin Kaepernick, New York Times, October 14, 2016

• Richard A. Posner, The Court of Celebrity, New Republic, May 5, 2011

VII. The Future of the Roberts Court

1. More Departures?

2. A New Direction for the Court?

Readings

• Review: Lee Epstein, William M. Landes, & Richard A. Posner, The Behavior of Federal Judges (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2013), pp. 116-123

• Review: Adam Liptak, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, No Fan of Donald Trump, Critiques Latest Term, New York Times, July 19, 2016

• Review: Adam Liptak, Supreme Court Agenda in the Trump Era? A Justice Seems to Supply One, New York Times, November 28, 2016