S3E26: Does the Supreme Court function as intended by our Founders?

History Behind News Program

Can Congress take away SCOTUS jurisdiction? Can states defy SCOTUS? Has SCOTUS lost its power and prestige? Is SCOTUS a political institution? Do its holdings bend to popular culture?

Can universities consider race in their admissions process? No, they cannot... because the U.S. Supreme Court said so on Thursday, June 29th.

Can President Biden erase more than $400 billion of America's student debt? No, he cannot... Because the Supreme Court said so on Friday, June 30th.

Can a web designer refuse to provide services for same-sex marriages based on her First Amendment rights? Yes, she can... because the U.S. Supreme Court said so on Friday, June 30th.

But where does the Supreme Court get its power? And where does it get its prestige? And are the Supreme Court's power and prestige eroding? Now that everything is so polarized! Now that serious allegations of ethical misconduct have been raised about Justice Clarence Thomas, and to a much lesser extent regarding Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Neil Gorsuch!

To better understand this history, the history of the US Supreme Court's prestige and power, and to better understand its politics, as in, is the highest court in the land inherently a political institution? And whether or not it bends to America's popular sentiments. I spoke with Dr. Michael Klarman, who digs deeps into centuries past, going back to the Court's early years, to answer these important questions in the historical context with vivid examples and familiar stories that you thought you knew but I bet you may be surprised to learn otherwise now. I know I was surprised many times by what I learned during this conversation. For example, did you know that the U.S. Congress can take away the Supreme Court's jurisdiction on a case pending before it? A 'wow" is warranted here, right? What about the separation of powers? What about our systems of checks and balances?

Dr. Klarman is the Charles Warren Professor of Legal History at Harvard Law School. He has won numerous awards for his teaching and scholarship, which are primarily in the areas of Constitutional Law and Constitutional History. In 2009 he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. In 2020, he authored the Foreword to the Harvard Law Review’s annual Supreme Court issue, which is titled “The Degradation of American Democracy—and the Court.” He is the author of many books, including this one: The Framers’ Coup: The Making of the United States Constitution, a book that was a finalist for the George Washington Book Prize. To learn more about Dr. Klarman, you can visit his academic homepage. Also, you should definitely check out my conversation with Dr. Gideon Rahat of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem about Israel's Supreme Court and Mr. Netanyahu's attempts to reform his country's judiciary. Dr. Rahat is a Senior Fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, and he draws important distinctions between Israel's democracy and ours. He talks about how integral Israel's Supreme Court is to that country's democracy because it's the only check on Israel's government.

I hope you enjoy these episodes.

Adel

Host of the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠History Behind News⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ podcast

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