SCOTUS: A Study in Opacity and Privilege (SC)

This course examines SCOTUS from an institutional perspective. Compared with Congress and the President, SCOTUS operates largely out of public view. Moreover, unlike its co-equal branches, SCOTUS does not control its agenda but instead relies on lawyers and clerks. These institutional features lend to its opacity and potentially allows a select few to have outsize influence on an institution that, by design, is already non-democratic. Each class session will focus on SCOTUS's unique features: from the clerkship selection to the lawyers involved in certiorari and oral argument. Class members will also present their original exploration into SCOTUS.