American courts resolve disputes between private parties and determine guilt or innocence in criminal trials. But they also do a great deal more. Using their authority under the Constitution, the Supreme Court has played a decisive role in social policy areas such as minority rights, intimate family and sexual relations, voting rights, police practices, punishment of criminals, environmental protection, and many other areas. In addition, lower federal courts have managed reform programs for prisons, mental hospitals, schools, and other public institutions.

This course considers the role of courts in our governmental system. Are they overstepping their boundaries when they take an active role in public policy formation and institutional management? Are they interfering with the proper functioning of other government institutions, such as Congress, the Presidency or state governments? Are they acting on the basis of law or merely expressing the political preferences of the judges? Are they upholding or violating the rule of law? Are they supporting or undermining democratic government? With the nation waiting in anticipation to see what the current Supreme Court will do, this is a crucial time for us, as a nation, to address these questions.