POLI 315 -- Courts & Politics Syll (Spring 2023)

Course: Courts and Politics (POLI 315 – 001; CRN: 44396)  Semester: Spring 2023  Course Modality: In-person, on-campus  Day/Time/Location: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; 2:00 – 2:50 p.m.; Room 2107, Harris Hall  Instructor Information: o Instructor: Dr. John M. Aughenbaugh (John or Aughie works just fine) o Office: 304 Founders Hall, 827 West Franklin St. o E-mail: jmaughenbaug@vcu.edu o Office Hours:  Monday; 10:30 – 11:30 a.m.  Wednesday; 10:30 – 11:30 a.m.  Thursday; 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.  And by appointment (either via Zoom or in-person) "We are not final because we are infallible, but we are infallible only because we are final." Justice Robert Jackson speaking of the Supreme Court in Brown v. Allen . Course Description: From the University Bulletin: A study of theories and models of judicial decision-making in the Supreme Court, focusing on judicial structure and procedures, policy-making analysis, political ideology, and judicial activism. Specifically, this course examines the U.S. court system as a political system, much like the executive and legislative branches. The focus during the semester will be on the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS). More concretely, we will look at the SCOTUS institutionally, its historical development, and some of the more significant eras of what some scholars describe as “the least understood branch of the federal government.” Throughout, the emphasis will be on how the SCOTUS operates at the political, institutional, and individual levels of analysis. Learning Objectives:  Understanding of the U.S. judicial system;  Development of critical analytical skills, as applied to the U.S. judiciary;  Multiple opportunities to develop critical writing skills, again as applied to the U.S. courts;  Placement of the U.S. courts within the history and institutional environments that surround all branches of U.S. government;  Comprehension of how participants act and what drives them within the judiciary; and  Attempts to critically address how politics affects the U.S. judiciary and the converse. Required Texts:  Lawrence Baum. 2021. The Supreme Court . 14th Edition. C.Q. Press/Sage.  Benjamin H. Barton. 2023. The Credentialed Court: Inside the Cloistered, Elite World of American Justice . Encounter Books. o THE CREDENTIALE COURT by BARTON is available for free at https://proxy.library.vcu.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=2723190  Noah Feldman. 2010. Scorpions: The Battles and Triumphs of FDR's Great Supreme Court Justices . Paperback.  Michael Bobelian. 2019. Battle for the Marble Palace: Abe Fortas, Earl Warren, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the Forging of the Modern Supreme Court . 1

o BATTLE FOR THE MARBLE PALACE by BOBELIAN is available for free at http://proxy.library.vcu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&AuthType=ip,url,cookie,uid&db=nlebk&AN=2142727&site=ehost- live&scope=site  Bob Woodward & Scott Armstrong. 1979. The Brethren: Inside the Supreme Court . Paperback. Simon & Schuster.  There will be other readings or podcast episodes which may be distributed via email and/or Canvas or noted/provided in the syllabus. These should be read or listened to with as much as rigor as the assigned texts. Grading Scale: Grades will be determined through the following: Assignment Percentage of Final Grade Points Mid-term Exam 25% 50 5 Random Quizzes, each worth 10 points 25% 50 Judicial Biography Paper 25% 50 Final Exam 25% 50 Total Points 200 The following scale strictly determines final grades in the course: A= 180 – 200 points B= 160 – 179.5 points C= 140 – 159.5 points D= 120 – 139.5 points F= 119.5 points & below You should NOT assume:  That by doing the assigned readings and attending class that you deserve a particular grade in this course. The above is the bare minimum a college student should do.  That just because one has a certain grade point average or needs a certain grade in the course to achieve a particular grade point average has no bearing on the instructor’s evaluations of a student’s work or what final course grade is determined. All grades will be determined by the quality of the work submitted to the instructor.  That I will round up to a higher grade. For example, one may earn 179.5 points in the course and still not earn an “A” grade in the course. As VCU does not allow instructors to give +/- grades, the above grading scale will be strictly applied. Exams: The mid-term exam is partially in-class and partially take-home, and is comprised of short answer and essay questions. With the short answer questions (in-class), the emphasis is on the student being able to demonstrate knowledge of the essential concepts and why a concept is important for understanding the U.S. judiciary, but particularly the SCOTUS. Concerning the essay questions (take-home), students will be asked to explain the evolution of a topic within judicial politics or summarize the material that was covered in the reading and class discussions and provide an analysis of said topic/material. Further information regarding the mid-term exam will be distributed on Canvas one week prior to when the exam will occur and is due to the instructor. Regarding the final exam, it will be take-home and is due as an e-mail attachment to the course instructor. Students will be asked to write two essays. One essay will emphasize students demonstrating an ability to synthesize the course material throughout the semester. The other essay will address a topic 2

Use and distribution of instructor notes: The instructor makes his lecture notes available on Canvas. The provision of these notes is to aid students in their comprehension of what is discussed during class sessions and to prepare for the completion of course assignments. Any sale or public posting of those notes or notes taken by students during class sessions without the instructor’s explicit written permission is considered to be a violation of VCU’s Honor Code (see below), and the instructor will avail himself of the Code in this regard. Communication: It is the student’s responsibility to check the course site on Canvas and to monitor his/her VCU e-mail account on a daily basis. The instructor posts on Canvas (course documents folder) all of his lecture notes, all assignment instructions, and additional/relevant readings. Additionally, the instructor will e-mail students via their VCU e-mail accounts any changes to the syllabus, follow-up thoughts on class discussions, and important announcements. Thus, regular monitoring of both VCU e- mail accounts and Canvas is necessary. Course Timeline: (Please note, the following may be changed at the discretion of the course instructor. He will notify students via e-mail as soon as any change is made)  Recommended study and course activity suggestions to do well in the course :  It is best to do the indicated readings before the lecture , so the readings and lectures can reinforce one another. This is especially the case because if students collectively are unprepared to discuss the readings, the instructor will adjourn a particular class session (assuming students already know the assigned reading) and begin the next class session by discussing the next set of readings;  Moreover, I strongly recommend that you review your class notes (in addition to the instructor’s) and the textbook information you highlighted (or was already in bold in the textbooks) once a week outside of class sessions. This has proven to be an effective study technique for those students have done well in the course in previous semesters; and  Please visit with the course instructor if you have questions on the readings or what was discussed in class sessions. The instructor is a resource to aid in your comprehension of the course material – use him. The course instructor is not clairvoyant; unless a student or students make him aware of issues/problems, he cannot begin to address them. Class 1 (01/18/2023): Introduction to the Course  Introductions  Assigned Reading: o Course Syllabus (on Canvas) Part I: Intro to Subject/Baum Classes 2 - 4 (01/20, 01/23, 01/25): Introduction to the Subject & SCOTUS, Part I  Assigned Reading: o How Cases Get to SCOTUS (Canvas) o Baum; Preface & Chapters 1 & 2 o Comparison of Biden to other presidents on speed in which judges are being nominated to the federal courts: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2021/09/02/biden-is- appointing-judges-faster-than-trump-and-most-everyone-else-for-now/ o Harris and Nussbaum, “America’s Top Justices Are Less Like...”: https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/07/11/whats-missing-from-the-supreme- court-218967  Recommended listen (for those who want to get a crash introduction to the SCOTUS), see season 4 of the Civil Discourse podcast (“Summer of SCOTUS”): https://guides.library.vcu.edu/discourse/season4 4

 Paper assignment posted on Canvas and discussed. Classes 5 - 7 (01/27, 01/30, & 02/01): Intro to SCOTUS, Part II  Assigned Reading: o Baum, Chapters 3 & 4 o The Echo Chamber: The Elite SCOTUS Bar – reading the following article: http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/scotus/ o Franze & Anderson, “In Unusual Term, Big Year for Amicus Curiae at the Supreme Court.” (read for class 7) (on Canvas) Classes 8 & 9 (02/03 & 02/06): Intro to SCOTUS, Conclusion  Assigned Reading o Baum, Chapters 5 & 6 o For a couple perspectives on judicial activism (which is referred to in the last part of Baum), see:  https://law.vanderbilt.edu/news/a-summary-of-why-we-need-more-judicial- activism/  https://www.lawliberty.org/2014/04/21/whats-wrong-with-judicial-activism- anyway/ Part II: Credentialed Court Classes 10 – 12 (02/08, 02/10, & 02/13): Credentialed Court, Part I  Assigned Reading: o Barton, Chapter 1 & Part I Class 13 – 15 (02/15, 02/17, & 02/20): Credentialed Court, Part II  Assigned Reading: o Barton, Chapters 5 - 9 Classes 16 – 18 (02/22, 02/24, & 02/27): Credentialed Court, Concluded  Assigned Reading: o Barton, Chapter 10 – 14  Exam instructions posted/discussed (02/24) Class 19 (03/01): Mid-term Exam (in class, short-answer part)  Take-home, essay portion of mid-term exam due Saturday, 03/04 @ 11:59 p.m. as an email attachment. No late exam essays will be accepted. Part III: Scorpions Classes 20 & 21 (03/03 & 03/13): Scorpions, Part I  Assigned Reading: o Feldman: Intro & Book One  For those who want to know more about Court packing (which President FDR infamously attempted and discussed in Scorpions), give the following a listen (Season 5, Episode 18 of Civil Discourse podcast, episode entitled “Court Packing”): https://guides.library.vcu.edu/discourse/season5 Classes 22 – 24 (03/15, 03/17, & 03/20): Scorpions, Part II 5