Judicial Decision Making Seminar: A SCOTUS Experience

3 credits · Law School

This is an intensive writing and discussion seminar that "appoints" each student to be a member of the Supreme Court of the United States for a semester and participate in the full range of discussing, negotiating, and voting on cases and the drafting of opinions to make precedents for "their SCOTUS." The class of 14 is divided into two Supreme Courts and a Chief Justice as well as the seniority of each justice is randomly assigned. Throughout the semester new fact patterns -- a "case" -- are presented and each "SCOTUS" must discuss, conference, vote and then write opinions, majority, concurring and dissenting on the case at hand. As with the real Court, the Chief Justice or the senior justice in the majority assigns the opinion for drafting. The new "case" each Court is given to decide is created to test and probe the reach, interpretation, or limits of the Court's prior precedents. In this way, the students must engage throughout the semester in both individual and group discussions and writing that obliges them to create a line of precedent that is coherent and consistent. Additionally, students as members of the Court, will confront issues of stare decisis and whether and when a precedent might be overruled. Enrollment limited. [3]