The Supreme Court and You
Instructor: Joseph Antognini, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, School of Medicine
Description: This class will examine the broad impact that the Supreme Court and its decisions have on the everyday life of individuals. We will discuss cases that have been decided by the Supreme Court, however, we will not focus on the legal issues per se, but rather on the practical effects of the decisions. In particular, we will examine whether the decisions pass scrutiny when examined from a layperson’s common sense perspective. The primary goals of this class are for students to be able to 1) understand the importance of the Supreme Court in our society; 2) apply critical thinking towards the Supreme Court decisions we discuss; 3) cogently express their opinions in written form.
Format: The seminar will meet for two and one-half hours each week. No outside activities will be required. Interested students may read Irons’ book “The Courage of Their Convictions”. Students will write two short papers (4-5 pages, double spaced) about two Supreme Court cases. The paper will briefly introduce the case and its broad impact, followed by the details of the case, the court’s decision and then the student’s opinion. We will try to group cases according to certain themes, such as the death penalty, abortion, privacy rights, etc. The students will briefly present the case to the class and give their opinion, followed by class discussion. Grading: This class will be letter graded. The grade is based on 33% for each paper and 34% class participation.
About the Instructor: Joe Antognini is a Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology in the School of Medicine. He has had a long standing interest in the Supreme Court and its decisions. He has followed the Court for many years, and is interested in how the Court affects everyday life. This is his tenth year teaching this class. His medical research interests include mechanisms of anesthesia and neuroscience of pain.