Probably not since the Warren Court (or perhaps you have to go back to FDR's court packing plan of 1937) has the Supreme Court occupied so much space in the political landscape. This SDG will try to figure out how this happened by examining the decisions handed down by the Court and the opinions supporting their decisions, covering a broad range of issues. Those issues will include reproductive rights, voting rights, presidential immunity, affirmative action, the attack on the administrative state and the increasing deference the Court gives to the free exercise of religion over the anti-establishment of religion clauses of the 1st Amendment.
1.An overview of the current Court; how it functions, including the use of the 'shadow docket.'
2. January 6 and its aftermath; Fischer v. United States, United States v. Trump
3. Other cases involving the former president; Trump v. Vance, Trump v. Thompson, Trump v. Anderson
4. Reproductive rights of women; Jackson Whole Women's Health v. Dobbs, FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, Moyle v. United States
5. Guns and the 2nd Amendment; New York State Rifle Association v. Bruen, United States v. Rahmi, Garland v. Cargill
6. The Administrative State-will it survive this Supreme Court? Loper-Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, West Virginia v. EPA, Sackett v. EPA
7. Political and racial jerrymandering and the independent legislature theory; Rucho v. Common Cause, Moore v. Harper, Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference, Allen v. Milligan
8.Constitutional and statutory bans against discrimination (the end of affirmative action in higher education); SFFA v. Harvard, Flowers v. Mississippi, Harris Funeral Homes v. FEC
9. Cases arising from the Covid pandemic; NFIB v. Dept. of Labor, Biden v. Missouri
10. Power of the Presidency; Biden v. Texas, Biden v. Nebraska
11Tension between the Establishment and Free Exercise clauses relating to religion; Kennedy v. Mremerton School District, Carson v. Makin, 303 Creative LLC v. Elnis, Grof v. DeJoy, Ramirez v. Collier
12. Free speech , including internet speech; Shurtleff v. Boston, Houston Community College v. Wilson, Moody v. Netchoice, Murthy v. Missouri, Gonzalez v. Google
Miscellaneous but interesting issues; Harrington v. Purdue Pharma, United States v. Zubaydah
The above referenced cases together with newspaper articles published when the opinions were handed down