The United States Supreme Court, with its conservative majority, has had a significant impact on the lives of American citizens and non-citizens alike. This course will allow participants to study, explore, and discuss recent decisions of the Court relating to access to abortion, gun control, separation of church and state, separation of powers of government, and school prayer to name a few. Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission although not recent has been included because of its importance on Candidate Financing.

We will examine19 decisions over 8 weeks, which will include the facts of each matter, the travel of the case through the lower courts, the majority opinion, the concurring opinions, and the dissenting opinions. Participants will be invited to discuss their personal thoughts about the decisions and the effect the decisions have on society and life in our country during these difficult times. See the following link for details on each case:

1. Abortion: Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization
2. Gun Control: NY State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruin
3. Climate Change: West Virginia v. EPA
4. Immigration: Biden v. Texas; United States v. Texas
5. Separation of Church and State: Carson v. Makin; Geoff v. DeJoy
6. School Prayer: Kennedy v. Bremerton School District
7. Public Display of Religious Symbols: Shurtleff v. Boston
8. Voting Rights: Brnovich v. Boston
9. Affordable Care Act: California v. Texas
10. Religion and Gay Rights: Fulton v. City of Philadelphia
11. Union Access to Workplace: Cedarpoint Nursery v. Hassid
12. Death Penalty: Ramirez v. Collier
13. Affirmative Action: Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. Harvard

Format: Participants will be asked to choose and present one opinion they may be interested in studying, and then lead the class discussion.

Resources/Expenses: The resource will be the Supreme Court Decisions which are available online. There are no expenses.