PSCI 14
The Federal Bench
Last Offered n/a

This course is not offered in the current catalog

As a branch of the national government, the federal courts are an important component of the constitutional political system in the United States, and they play a central role in today’s political debates. The past decades have been complex and fascinating ones for anyone interested in the federal courts. The class will examine the allocation of authority among the branches of the federal government and the relationships among state, federal, and tribal governments within the United States. Questions of the meaning of national and of state “sovereignty” lace the materials. Beneath the sometimes dry discussions of jurisdictional rules and doctrines of comity lie conflicts about such issues as race, religion, the beginning and end of life, abortion, Indian tribal rights, and gender equality. In additional to considering the political and historical context of the doctrinal developments, the class will examine the institutional structures that have evolved in the federal courts; questions about the size and shape of the federal courts, the allocation of work among state, tribal, and federal courts and among the different kinds of federal judges now in the federal system; and the effects of social and demographic categories on the processes of federal adjudication. The class will also have weekly discussion with members of the federal bench: Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Federal Circuit Judges and Federal District Judges in a roundtable seminar discussion or lecturers.