Supreme Court Seminar
Fall 2022
Fall 2022
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 23; we will discuss Set Two in our second session, held on Tuesday, August 30; and we will discuss Set Three in our third session, held on Tuesday, September 6. 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 randomly 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 2022.
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 2022.
Here are our three sets of cases:
Set One
Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency: Read the Petitioners' Brief and the Brief for the Respondents.
Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith: Read the Brief for Petitioner and the Brief for Respondents.
National Pork Producers Council v. Ross: Read the Brief for Petitioners and the Brief for the State Respondents.
Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith: Read the Brief for Petitioner and the Brief for Respondents.
National Pork Producers Council v. Ross: Read the Brief for Petitioners and the Brief for the State Respondents.
Set Two
Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College: Read the Brief for Petitioner (it's long, but surely you'll find this case interesting) and the Brief for Respondent.
303 Creative LLC v. Elenis: Read the Brief for the Petitioners and the Brief for Respondents.
Axon Enterprise, Inc. v. Federal Trade Commission: Read the Brief for Petitioner and the Brief for the Federal Parties.
303 Creative LLC v. Elenis: Read the Brief for the Petitioners and the Brief for Respondents.
Axon Enterprise, Inc. v. Federal Trade Commission: Read the Brief for Petitioner and the Brief for the Federal Parties.
Set Three
Haaland v. Brackeen: Read the Brief for Petitioner State of Texas and the Brief for the Federal Parties. The briefs for this case are lengthy--identify the issue(s) for which you think clarification of the law is most likely needed or reversal is most likely appropriate, and then in class we will figure out the issue(s) on which to focus in the majority opinion.
Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway: Read the Brief for the Petitioner (ignore the beast of an appendix that drives the document to more than 300 pages) and Respondent's Brief.
Reed v. Goertz: Read the Brief for Petitioner and the Brief for Respondent.
Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway: Read the Brief for the Petitioner (ignore the beast of an appendix that drives the document to more than 300 pages) and Respondent's Brief.
Reed v. Goertz: Read the Brief for Petitioner and the Brief for Respondent.