The U.S. Supreme Court: The Least Known Branch

The U.S. Supreme Court is currently making headlines, but unlike the other branches of government (the executive and legislative), it is arguably the least known branch of government. Given its current and likely future prominence in influencing policy, informed citizens should understand how the Court works, what its powers are, and how these are derived from the Constitution, federal statutes, and custom. The goal of this course is to better inform citizens about the Court’s power and its restraints on the exercise of that power. This course will examine, among several topics, how the court came to have its power of judicial review as well as the extent and limit of that power, how its members are selected, how justices decide which cases to hear, and how the justices reach their conclusions. 

Required Reading: Linda Greenhouse, The U.S. Supreme Court: A Very Short Introduction (3rd Ed.), ISBN 978-0197689462. Suggested Reading: David O’Brien, Storm Center: The U.S. Supreme Court in American Politics, ISBN 978-0393696738. 

Kevin Hart has been a long-time student and observer of the Supreme Court, beginning as an undergraduate political science major at Allegheny College. As a newsletter journalist in Washington, D.C., he covered the Supreme Court for a number of years, attending oral arguments as well as writing reports of cases when they had been decided. He has also taught Health Law for five years in the MPH program at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. With a law degree from Syracuse University, he is now a retired lawyer, having been admitted to the bars in Pennsylvania, New York, and the U.S. Supreme Court Bar.