NEWS
Community Invited to Discuss Supreme Court Actions
Panelists will be:
- Judith Resnik, Arthur Liman Professor of Law at Yale Law School;
- Ryan Doerfler, Professor of Law at The University of Chicago Law School;
- Kent Greenfield, Professor of Law and Dean’s Distinguished Scholar at Boston College Law School;
- and Jim Lindgren, Professor of Law at Northwestern School of Law.
Dr. Graham Bullock
Following the presentations, participants will join small groups moderated by trained DCI facilitators to deliberate on the merits and tradeoffs of the reform proposals.
Davidson Associate Professor Graham Bullock, Faculty Director of the DCI, explained, “We chose this topic because the Supreme Court has recently come under increased public scrutiny due to its headline-making involvement in politics and policy. President Biden has begun staffing a commission to study and recommend possible reforms, and scholars, policymakers, and citizens across the political spectrum are evaluating and debating ideas for reforming the Court.”
These ideas range from expanding the number of justices to instituting term limits to reducing the court’s power as an institution. Opponents of these proposals argue that as a co-equal branch of government, the Supreme Court should continue operating as it has been because any changes risk further damage to its legitimacy.
The Deliberative Citizenship Initiative at Davidson is a community-wide project focused on the uses of deliberation as an alternative to the non-constructive cross talk that has come to dominate public discourse. Such deliberation welcomes rather than fears productive disagreement and good argument, which lie at the heart of intellectual and democratic life.
There is no charge to participate in the Supreme Court discussion, but interested parties are encouraged to register at Eventbrite.com.