U.S. Supreme Court Ends Its Term

The U.S. Supreme Court ended its 2022-2023 term on Friday. Three "blockbuster" decisions involving affirmative action, student loan relief and services to same-sex couples were handed down in the final days of the term. NPR reports on these developments. The longest report, 12+ minutes, presents the affirmative action case.

It has two separate pieces about the same-sex wedding website case, a general presentation (5 min. 41 sec.) of the ruling and another concentrating on Justice Sonia Sotomayor's blistering dissent (4 min. 35 sec.)

Student loan relief problems might be hard for non-Americans to understand, but over 40 million Americans carry student loans. NPR has a piece about what this decision means for borrowers (4 min. 57 sec.). NPR's legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg's analysis of the legal arguments, with no audio, can be found here.

Other important decisions were also handed down this week. Totenberg explains one involving who has the last word on organising federal elections (5 min. 17 sec.).

More from NPR on SCOTUS here (11 min. 48 sec., transcript available).

 U.S. Supreme Court and Affirmative Action

NPR's Morning Edition has a piece here by Nina Totenberg about the U.S. Supreme Court's hearing a case seeking to undue affirmative action in college admissions. 6 min. 51 sec. transcript available.

 The First Monday in October....

The first Monday in October is the beginning of the U.S. Supreme Court term. For a roundup of what's scheduled, NPR's Nina Totenberg has a report here. Her conclusion --"Hold on to your hats - it's going to be a bumpy ride." 6 min. 54 sec. transcript available.

You can now listen live to oral arguments using this link. As before, audio recordings of arguments and their transcripts are made available at the end of each week here.

More on the Harvard Admissions Suit

The trial to hear evidence about how Harvard chooses which applicants to admit is over, with a ruling to come much later because the evidence is so « dense », according to Max Larkin of NPR’s local Boston station. You can find his report here. 4 min, transcript available

How Harvard Chooses Its Students and Is That Legal

NPR’s All Things Considered has a piece about a lawsuit, brought on behalf of Asian-American students, criticizing how Harvard chooses its students. 3 min 41 sec, transcript available.
NPR's Morning Edition speaks with a reporter from their Boston affiliate. The report can be found here. 3min 36 sec, transcript available.

Affirmative Action Again Before the U.S. Supreme Court

NPR's All Things Considered of December 9 has a report by Nina Totenberg about another chapter in the story of whether affirmative action is compatible with the U.S. Constitution. Is the Constitution colorblind? 5 min 55 sec, transcript available.

Affirmative Action at the U.S. Supreme Court

NPR's All Things Considered of April 22 has a report by Nina Totenberg about the Court's decision to uphold an amendment to the constitution of the state of Michigan which bans the use of affirmative action in public universities of that state. 5 min 46 sec, transcript available. You can read more about this case at SCOTUSblog.

Affirmative Action in U.S. Schools

NPR's series Intelligence Squared U.S. sponsored a debate this week - Does Affirmative Action On Campus Do More Harm Than Good? - at Harvard Law School about the merits of affirmative action in admission decisions made by colleges and universities. Two versions of the audio for the debate are available, the edited one (50 min.) that was broadcast, and the full debate, 1h 29 min, transcript available.

U.S. Supreme Court made simple

C-Span has a video of the journalist Linda Greenhouse talking about her book The U.S. Supreme Court: A Very Short Introduction at the National Book Festival in Washington last September. She gives a very good introduction to the institution in its historical context followed, in the question and answer period, with her thoughts about where the Court is headed. 45 min, no transcript

U.S. Supreme Court and Affirmative Action

The Court is examining the question of affirmative action yet again and the law may change after Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin is decided. PBS's Newshour of Oct. 10 has a long report of the oral argument. 16 min 42 sec, transcript available. NPR's All Things Considered  has a shorter analysis by Nina Totenberg, their Supreme Court correspondent. 6 min 3 sec, transcript available. For an in depth presentation of the case, see SCOTUSblog (just text).

Business cases before the U.S. Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments next Monday, beginning a new term.  WNYC's Money Talking of Sept. 28th took a look at the cases already scheduled which are pertinent to the business community, in particular Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, Amgen Inc. v. Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds and Gabelli v. Securities and Exchange Commission.
7min 11 sec, transcript available

U.S. Supreme Court 2011 term

For those who follow the U.S. Supreme Court and its decisions —
the Judicial Conference of 9th Circuit Court of Appeals invited Kathleen Sullivan, professor of constitutional law and a name partner in a big law firm, to give a review of the latest Supreme Court term then posted the talk on YouTube. Sullivan devoted the first 40 minutes of her talk to the blockbuster Affordable Care Act decision. She next spoke of the decision about Arizona's immigration laws, then a case involving whether the First Amendment protects lying about receiving of a military medal, several other First Amendment cases involving the Establishment Clause, then criminal cases about search and seizure, ineffective counsel in plea bargaining and mandatory life imprisonment for juveniles. Her brief preview of the coming term included cases involving the Alien Tort Statute and affirmative action. 1 h 27 min, no transcript

Law and Social Change

When Harvard was reserved for men, Radcliffe College was its female counterpart. The two finally merged in 1999 but the Radcliffe Institute remains. This May it organized a panel discussion, From Front Lines to High Courts: The Law and Social Change, discussing the question with special reference to the issues of racial equality, abortion, and gay rights. The video is 1h 22 min long, no transcript.

More Michael Sandel

Harvard political philosopher Michael Sandel, whose course Justice has been available on the internet for several years, has begun a series of three lectures at the London School of Economics, Michael Sandel: The Public Philosopher, which will be available on BBC's Radio 4. The first, "Should universities give preference to applicants from poor backgrounds?", questions the wisdom of affirmative action programs and is already online. The next lecture will examine the question "Should a banker be paid more than a nurse?' The final lecture will be "Should we bribe people to be healthy?" 42 min. podcast, streaming audio or downloadable .mp3, no transcript available.

Justice

Michael Sandel, professor of government at Harvard University, spoke at the Harvard Book Store January 2, 2010, presenting the ideas he develops in his book Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?
The presentation involves lots of interaction with the audience. You will feel pulled in too.
video, 55 min. no transcript
The Amazon page presenting the book has a short (3min52) video on it from Harvard University. On the Harvard site, you can find a longer (28 min.) video with excerpts from his class entitled Justice — starting with the classic trolley problems. Highly recommended.
Added later  - you can find videos of the complete classes (12 episodes) here. No transcripts, but readings provided by Professor Sandel can be found here. Sandel also provides discussion guides for two levels - beginner and advanced.

Interview with Ronald Dworkin

The BBC programme The Interview with Owen Bennett Jones has an interview this week with Professor Ronald Dworkin (of University College London and New York University) is one of the world's leading philosophers of law. We can hear his views on interpretation of the constitution, abortion, affirmative action, torture.
28 min. BBC iPlayer (or podcast available for download until 31 January) no transcript.

For more Dworkin, go to this site with recordings of the symposium in which he received the Holberg prize.
Also available is a lecture given October 26, 2009 at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.  "Is There Truth in Interpretation? Law, Literature and History" either on YouTube or at the Library of Congress site. 1h07 (Dworkin begins at about 10 min.) no transcript.

What's the Future of Affirmative Action? Dahlia Lithwick reviews this legal question on the eve of the inauguration of Barak Obama. NPR's Talk of the Nation Jan. 19, 2009. 30 min. RealPlayer, no script.