Congress and Judicial Politics

In the news?  

• Feinstein and the Judiciary Committee.
• A district judge and abortion pills.

For next Tuesday

• Davidson, ch. 14, Thurber ch. 11.

For next week:  

• What domestic topics do you want to discuss? 
• Overall, any topics to revisit or add?
• Topics for last paper?

Finishing last time: J6

• The two GOP members worked in tandem;
• In each hearing, one member took the helm;
• Careful TV production
• Public opinion impact: reinforcement, not persuasion

Court-packing  (Davidson 367-368).

A check on the court:  jurisdiction-stripping, or court-stripping (Davidson 365-366 -- a 2020 article

Constitutional Amendments

Response to statutory (vs. constitutional) interpretation (Davidson p. 363)  Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and ADA

Supreme Court Nominations (see Thurber 171-178)

Clarence Thomas:



In hearings, senators try to get judicial nominees on the record.  NOTE WHAT ALITO SAYS (START AT 18:45) ABOUT STARE DECISIS.





Merrick Garland and "the Biden Rule" (Thurber,  p, 168)

Gorsuch and the nuclear option 

KBJ

Blue Slips and Senatorial Courtesy (Davidson, 378)

The Trump record on the courts (Davidson 378)

A recent case