How the Supreme Court Is Reshaping American Life: Programs on Supreme Court Issues

Reshaping American Life: Today’s Supreme Court in Historical Context and Its Potential Impact on Our Future

April 23, 2024

Few would dispute that the current Supreme Court is shaking up the legal landscape in ways that strike at settled expectations from a generation ago. But is the Court really acting differently from its predecessors? And what does this tell us about what we can expect from this Court going forward? Find out, as California Supreme Court Justice Carol Corrigan moderates a discussion/debate between two of the country’s leading scholars of the Supreme Court: Berkeley Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and Case Western Reserve Law Professor Jonathan Adler.

How the Supreme Court is Reshaping Voting and Democracy

May 1, 2024

Over the last decade, the Supreme Court has addressed many issues affecting elections and ballot access, covering such topics as campaign finance, political and racial gerrymandering, the application of the Voting Rights Act, and the authority of state courts to rein in state legislatures on voting issues. This year 2024 will see high-profile issues relating to ballot access in Presidential primaries and perhaps general election ballots before the high court as well. In this plenary program, national thought leaders on voting rights and democracy will explain the implications of those decisions on how our political leaders are chosen and how they govern, while also addressing how those decisions affect political accountability and the quality of governance. Program includes: Hon. J. Michelle Childs, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (moderator);  Katherine Culliton-González, Hispanic National Bar Association; Benjamin L. Ginsberg, The Hoover Institution; Kevin J. Hamilton, Perkins Coie, LLP; and Nathaniel Persily, Stanford Law School.

Sponsored by the Committee on the American Judicial System. Co-sponsored by Berkeley Judicial Institute and Bolch Judicial Institute of Duke Law.

How the Supreme Court Is Reshaping Our Everyday Lives: Air, Water, Medicine, Food, Fishing, Credit Cards, and Much More

January 10, 2025

In the past few years, the Supreme Court has dramatically reshaped the law governing governmental agencies—the most substantial changes in decades. In our complex modern society, government agencies necessarily regulate nearly every important element of American life. But recent Supreme Court cases have significantly curtailed how those agencies can operate. Many have observed that the consequences of these decisions are taking root and that these historic decisions will have serious and enduring consequences for how businesses and institutions will operate and how people will live their lives. Our distinguished panel explores the ramifications of these dramatic Supreme Court decisions and just how far-reaching the effects may be.  Panelists included Professor Ernest Young of Duke Law School; Chief Judge Catherine Eagles, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina; Senior Attorney David Doniger of the Natural Resources Defense Council; and Jennifer Zachary, general counsel for Merck Inc. The panel was moderated by Professor Stuart Benjamin of Duke Law School.