This course will examine the role the Supreme Court has played in American history.
Lead Scholar: Kermit Roosevelt, University of Pennsylvania
Master Teacher: Spencer Burrows
Image: Formal group portrait of the Supreme Court Justices in robes, photograph by Harris & Ewing, Inc., 1941. (The Gilder Lehrman Institute, GLC02929.01)
Up to 24 PD Hours
This course will examine how the Supreme Court has influenced American history. Topics include the structure of the Court in our constitutional system, different methods of interpreting the Constitution, different roles the Court has played (e.g., defender of democracy, defender of politically weak groups, oracle of American values), and how those roles have changed over time, the doctrine of stare decisis (respect for precedent), and possible reforms.
Optional Book Talk: If you are interested in Professor Roosevelt’s scholarship but want to take a different course at the Teacher Symposium, you may attend his book talk on The Nation That Never Was. Symposium participants attending the optional book talks can earn additional PD credit.
Kermit Roosevelt is the David Berger Professor for the Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. He is the author of numerous law review articles and several books, most recently The Nation That Never Was: Reconstructing America’s Story. Before joining the Penn faculty, he clerked for US Supreme Court Justice David Souter. In 2021, he was selected by President Biden to serve on the Presidential Commission on Supreme Court Reform. He is also the author of two novels, Allegiance and In the Shadow of the Law.
Spencer Burrows is the equity and civic engagement coordinator and 11th grade dean at Pacific Ridge School in Carlsbad, CA, where he also instructs Government, US History, and Economics. There, he leads the school initiative to expand access to the civics process for all students, through leadership training, civics education, and experiential learning. This year he created the school elections program and also launched a formal leadership training program for the upper school student leaders where they learn concrete leadership skills, workshop their own leadership practice for the student group they lead, match students to intern for local politicians, and bring leaders like Ambassador Leslie Bassett on campus to speak to the students. Burrows also coaches the Mock Trial team.
Outside of school, he serves as commissioner at the City of Carlsbad and consults for iCivics, Street Law, and Bill of Rights Institute. Lastly, he is a visiting scholar at CSEE this year, focusing on civic education. He earned his BA from UCLA, and JD from University of California, College of the Law, San Francisco.