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More Notable Supreme Court Cases of 2024 and 2025 with Doug Wilkins
Last year's extraordinary U.S. Supreme Court term wasn't just about gun regulation, abortion, President Trump and agency power (all of which we discussed in the fall). The Court also addressed free speech, cutting edge social media issues and voting rights, among other things. Already this year, it has decided the Tik Tok case, including free speech. We will read and discuss summaries of four or five 2024 cases that are significant in themselves or that hint at the justices' likely direction on important questions in the near future. While this course will start where our Fall discussion ended, it is self-contained and does not assume that you took any prior course. We will analyze one case per week and ask:
- Did the justices honestly try to determine what the constitution, precedent and facts require?
- Or do their decisions just reflect the majority’s policy preferences or partisan behavior?
- Which judges provided "swing votes" and why?
As one justice says, to answer these questions, we must “read the decision.” Doug will draw on his experience as a recently-retired trial court judge and, previously, a lawyer who briefed and argued cases in state and federal appellate courts, including one U. S. Supreme Court oral argument.
5 Tu | Apr 1-May 6 | 3-4 pm | Newbury Court
*No class 4/15
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