SCOTUS Responsibilities

A proposal.

One could link this to the idea of court expansion. We have nine justices but 13 circuits (12 regional plus the Federal Circuit). Add four justices and have their home chambers in the regional circuit.

For Monday, August 31

Tuesday audio. Foundations papers due at the beginning of class Monday. I know this section is a bit more theoretical or policy-based than others, but that gives you a bit more freedom to write. Because it relates to the discussion of term limits, you may discuss the SCOTUS reform proposals as they relate to the constitutional foundation things we discussed in Panel # 1.

We continue with Original Jurisdiction. What other policies justify Wyndotte? How does § 1251(a) raise a special problem under Wyndotte and how does the Court get passed that?

Then move to Mandatory/Discretionary; include  S. Ct. R. 14.1 and S. Ct. R. 10. Then prep Review of Federal Courts of Appeals and Reviewing State Courts, covering Background, Power of Review, and Independent and Adequate. I hope to just about finish SCOTUS by next Tuesday.

Panels (All)

 After the jump. Please review and make sure you have been assigned to three (3).

For Tuesday, August 25

Defect in Monday's audio. Sorry. 

We pick up with the benefits and defects in the Segall plan. Review and Prep Structure and Rule, Discretionary or Mandatory, and Original Jurisdiction. Prep Review Federal Courts of Appeals, which we may get to at the end of the session.

Judge Stephanos Bibas on writing

Here. He focuses on judicial opinions, but the advice translates to all writing.

For Monday, September 24

Tuesday audio.

We will cover some final things on Foundations. First, how do the various opinions in CASA map onto the judicial supremacy/departmentalism debate? What is the consequence of departmentalism if the court finds that the citizenship E.O is invalid? Second, consider the concept of "judicial activism;" review the piece by Orin Kerr on the Supplemental Materials post.

We then move to Supreme Court; please check who is on Panel # 2. Prep Structure and Role, Discretionary Jurisdiction, and Original Jurisdiction. 

I will post the final panels next Monday afternoon. 

For Tuesday, August 18

Monday audio. We will discuss syllabus, assessments, etc. for the first few minutes of class tomorrow. Please email me if you have an exam on Wednesday, December 16.

Couple things to flag: This post from Prof. Steve Vladeck includes a chart showing the fifteen judges who have been impeached.

We continue with Constitutional Structure; prep the rest of this section. See also this post from Prof. Vladeck offering statistics on SCOTUS appointments by President. What is the connection between "life tenure" (as Moshe and everyone else puts it) and "good behaviour" and "permanent tenure of office?" What is the argument that Congress could impose term limits or mandatory age limits on judicial offices under the current language of Art. III?

Welcome to Fed Courts and First Week Assignments

Welcome to Federal Courts. 

This blog is the primary means for out-of-class and between-class communication.

Please download and read the Syllabus for complete details about the course, assignments, pedagogical approach, grading methods, and course rules. Review it prior to the first class.

You should bring the Syllabus with you to every class.

Please download and review Grading Information for details about assessments and graded assignments for the course. I will answer questions about this prior to the second class, on Tuesday, August 18.

Here are Discussion Questions that we will use to guide class conversations for each topic. You now have most of the questions for the entire semester, although I may provide more in advance of a particular class. You should print this and keep it with the Syllabus to help prepare for each class.

And remember: 

First Amendment cases often get serious attention, and rightly so. But civil procedure, though perhaps less glamorous, defines the rules of the road.  

Required Course Materials:

1) Erwin Chemerinsky, Federal Jurisdiction (9th ed. 2025) (“Chemerinsky”)

2)  James E. Pfander, Principles of Federal Jurisdiction (4th ed. 2022) (“Pfander”)

3) Federal Courts Blog. All materials can be found on the Blog at Supplemental Materials, as indicated in syllabus; you should bookmark this page, because you will come back to it a lot.

 

Assignments for First Day+ of Class: After the jump

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Introduction: Federal Courts and Constitutional Structure

   Provisions:

   U.S. Const. art. III

   U.S. Const. art. II § 2 cl.2 (appointment); Art. I § 4; Art. I § 2, cl.5-6 (impeachment)

   U.S. Const. art. I, §§ 8, 9

   U.S. Const. art. VI, cl.2-3

   U.S. Const. amends. X, XI, XIII, XIV, XV

   Maps of the Federal Judicial System (Blog)

Theme: History and Constitutional Foundations                     Chemerinsky 1-16

                                                                                                       Pfander 1-22

   Cases:

   Marbury v. Madison

 

   Commentary:

   The Federalist No. 78 (Blog)

   The Federalist No. 79 (Blog)

   Chervinsky, Chase Impeachment (Blog)

   Vladeck, Impeaching Federal Judges (Blog) (chart)

Theme: Separation of Powers, Parity, Comity, Federalism       Chemerinsky 26-43, 40-44

                                                                                                          Pfander 22-26, 32-36

Theme: Judicial Activism

Theme: The Judicial Role

   Cases:

   Trump v. CASA (Blog)

Theme: Judicial Supremacy and Judicial Departmentalism     Chemerinsky 16-17

                                                                                                          Pfander 22-23

   Cases:

   Trump. CASA (Blog)

Theme: Good Writing and Talking Procedure

   Commentary:

            Good Writing and Talking Procedure  (Blog)

 

Consider the assigned Discussion Questions.

 

Panels (Preliminary)

As you see from the Syllabus and Assessments, everyone is assigned to three (3) panels during the semester and will write their papers on that topic. Panels are assigned at random, although no one sits on consecutive panels and assignments are somewhat distributed through the semester.

Below are assignments for the first two panels. Structure will go on the first class on Monday, August 17; panelists should sit on the side of the room nearest the door. I expect to get to Supreme Court late in the second class and then into the second week of the semester.

I will assign final panels at the beginning of the second week of class, once I know the final class roster.

Federal Courts and Constitutional Structure

Moshe Fettman                          Anne-Marie Issa

Alyssa Lopes                             Tariq Ishtiaq

Chloe Kortie                             Leila Halili

Angeline Garces                         Jonathan Suarez

Joshua Ynirio                            Elizabeth Gonzalez

 

Supreme Court of the United States

Alexa Crea                                Rebecca Lopez

Erika Rosner                             Ki Gebhardt

Justin Bigney                             Lauren Ayala

Camila Amaya                           Valentina Correa Ospina

Ashley Miranda                          McKenzie Kreitlein

Jonathan Suarez 

 

Good Writing and Talking Procedure

You will write three 1000-word essays. And you will talk  about the law throughout the semester, in class and during arguments. Although I do not care about formal bluebooking in writing, I care about your writing and analysis. And I care about how you talk and write about courts and procedure, that you do so properly and not with the (inaccurate) informality you often see.

Please review and follow this. I will take points off.

After the jump are tips on both.

Name Cards

At our first meeting on Monday, August 17, there will be a stack of tent cards on the table in the front of the classroom. When you come to the room, please find the card with your name on it and place it in front of you at your seat. You are responsible for keeping that card and having it with you at every class throughout the full semester.

We will not have assigned seats. Panelists will sit on the sides, when assigned. 

Supplemental Materials

After the jump are the additional materials (statutes, cases, readings, etc.) assigned throughout the semester, as indicated in the Syllabus. You will return to this post for those materials; it may help to bookmark, so you do not have to scroll through the entire blog when a document is assigned.