Supreme Court Seminar
Fall 2023
Fall 2023
Syllabus: Our syllabus is here. Please read it carefully--it contains important information regarding our course procedures, our course calendar, and the unusually strict no-absence policy that our course format necessitates. When you read the syllabus, you will see that we will be taking up nine cases (one for each of you) and that the cases will be divided into three sets. We will discuss Set One in our first class session, held on Tuesday, August 22; we will discuss Set Two in our second session, held on Tuesday, August 29; and we will discuss Set Three in our third session, held on Tuesday, September 5. We will make opinion-writing assignments using a randomized procedure that I will explain in our first session. In that first session, all students will find out which case has been assigned to them. Students are free to trade assignments, but I never force students to do so--you will be responsible for the case that is assigned to you unless you enter into a mutually satisfactory trade agreement with a classmate.
Preparing for the first three class sessions: To prepare for each of our first three class sessions, please read the assigned briefs (you will find links to those briefs below), then come to class prepared to present a succinct overview of the assigned cases' facts and principal issues if I call upon you to do so. Please also come prepared to explain how you are tentatively inclined to vote on the principal issues presented in each assigned case, as well as your reasons for leaning in that direction. The votes you cast during these discussions will help us determine the nature of the majority opinions that need to be written.
In addition to reading the assigned briefs, feel free to read as much of the additional briefing (reply briefs and amicus briefs) as you'd like, particularly for the case to which you are assigned. You can find those materials on SCOTUSblog, which maintains a separate page for each case. To get there, find your case of interest on the "Cases" page for October Term 2023.
Here are our three sets of cases:
In addition to reading the assigned briefs, feel free to read as much of the additional briefing (reply briefs and amicus briefs) as you'd like, particularly for the case to which you are assigned. You can find those materials on SCOTUSblog, which maintains a separate page for each case. To get there, find your case of interest on the "Cases" page for October Term 2023.
Here are our three sets of cases:
Set One
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services: Read the Brief for the Petitioners and the Brief for Respondents.
Acheson Hotels v. Laufer: Read the Brief for Petitioner and the Brief for Respondent. (On July 24, Deborah Laufer notified the Court that she had dropped her claim against Acheson Hotels, and she asked the Court to dismiss the case as moot on those grounds. Four days later, Acheson Hotels asked the Court to reject Laufer's mootness argument and retain jurisdiction of the case. The Court declined to rule on Laufer's mootness argument prior to hearing oral argument on October 4, and we don't know what the Court will ultimately say on this point. But regardless of what the Court ultimately says, in this class we will be treating the case as not moot so that we can discuss the Article III standing issue that the Court agreed to decide when it granted certiorari in this case.)
Pulsifer v. United States: Read the Brief for Petitioner and the Brief for the United States.
Acheson Hotels v. Laufer: Read the Brief for Petitioner and the Brief for Respondent. (On July 24, Deborah Laufer notified the Court that she had dropped her claim against Acheson Hotels, and she asked the Court to dismiss the case as moot on those grounds. Four days later, Acheson Hotels asked the Court to reject Laufer's mootness argument and retain jurisdiction of the case. The Court declined to rule on Laufer's mootness argument prior to hearing oral argument on October 4, and we don't know what the Court will ultimately say on this point. But regardless of what the Court ultimately says, in this class we will be treating the case as not moot so that we can discuss the Article III standing issue that the Court agreed to decide when it granted certiorari in this case.)
Pulsifer v. United States: Read the Brief for Petitioner and the Brief for the United States.
Set Two
Murray v. UBS Securities: Read the Brief for Petitioner and the Brief for Respondents.
Great Lakes Insurance v. Raiders Retreat Realty: Read the Brief for Petitioner and the Brief for Respondent.
O'Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier: Read the Brief for Petitioners and the Brief for Respondents. (The student who is assigned drafting responsibility for this case will also want to read the relevant portions of briefs filed in Linke v. Freed, a companion case that raises similar questions.)
Great Lakes Insurance v. Raiders Retreat Realty: Read the Brief for Petitioner and the Brief for Respondent.
O'Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier: Read the Brief for Petitioners and the Brief for Respondents. (The student who is assigned drafting responsibility for this case will also want to read the relevant portions of briefs filed in Linke v. Freed, a companion case that raises similar questions.)
Set Three
Culley v. Marshall: Read the Brief for Petitioners and the Brief for Respondents.
Loper Bright Entertainment v. Raimondo: Read the Brief for Petitioners and the Brief for the Respondents.
Vidal v. Elster: Read the Brief for the Petitioner and the Brief for the Respondent.
Loper Bright Entertainment v. Raimondo: Read the Brief for Petitioners and the Brief for the Respondents.
Vidal v. Elster: Read the Brief for the Petitioner and the Brief for the Respondent.