Supreme Court Seminar
Fall 2024
Fall 2024
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 27; we will discuss Set Two in our second session, held on Tuesday, September 3; and we will discuss Set Three in our third session, held on Tuesday, September 10. 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 2024.
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 2024.
Here are our three sets of cases:
Set One
Royal Canin U.S.A. v. Wullschleger: Read the Brief for Petitioners and the Brief for Respondents.
Williams v. Washington: Read the Brief for Petitioners and the Brief for Respondent.
Lackey v. Stinnie: Read the Brief for Petitioner and the Brief for Respondents.
Williams v. Washington: Read the Brief for Petitioners and the Brief for Respondent.
Lackey v. Stinnie: Read the Brief for Petitioner and the Brief for Respondents.
Set Two
Garland v. VanDerStok: Read the Brief for Petitioners and the Brief for Respondents VanDerStok et al. (Although we needn't read it as a group, the student assigned to this case will also want to read the Brief for Respondents Defense Distributed et al.)
Glossip v. Oklahoma: Read the Brief for Petitioner and the Brief for Court-Appointed Amicus Curiae in Support of the Judgment Below. (Although we needn't read it as a group, the student assigned to this case will also want to read the Brief for Respondent in Support of Petitioner--the brief that Oklahoma's attorney general filed in support of Glossip's claim for relief.)
Bufkin v. McDonough: Read the Brief for Petitioners and the Brief for Respondents.
Glossip v. Oklahoma: Read the Brief for Petitioner and the Brief for Court-Appointed Amicus Curiae in Support of the Judgment Below. (Although we needn't read it as a group, the student assigned to this case will also want to read the Brief for Respondent in Support of Petitioner--the brief that Oklahoma's attorney general filed in support of Glossip's claim for relief.)
Bufkin v. McDonough: Read the Brief for Petitioners and the Brief for Respondents.
Set Three
Bouarfa v. Mayorkas: Read the Brief for Petitioner and the Brief for Respondents.
Medical Marijuana, Inc. v. Horn: Read the Brief for Petitioners and the Brief for Respondent.
City and County of San Francisco v. EPA: Read the Brief for Petitioner and the Brief for Respondent.
Medical Marijuana, Inc. v. Horn: Read the Brief for Petitioners and the Brief for Respondent.
City and County of San Francisco v. EPA: Read the Brief for Petitioner and the Brief for Respondent.