Law and legal institutions have a growing impact on our society. Courts play an important role in shaping dozens of national and local policy issues. Learning how courts interpret cases and impact policy is an important skill in the policymaker’s toolkit. This class examines the Supreme Court of the United States’ place in the legal system and how it broadly influences policy and the lives of all Americans. It will examine: where the Supreme Court fits in the American legal system, the processes and influences by which a case reaches the Supreme Court and the Court’s impact on policy. We will use several recent Supreme Court cases to examine this process.
Judge Laurel Beatty Blunt serves on the Tenth District Court of Appeals for the State of Ohio, after serving for ten years on the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. Prior to serving as a judge, she was the Director of Legislative Affairs and Counsel to the Voting Rights Institute for the Ohio Secretary of State, where she was the liaison to the Ohio General Assembly and the 88 county boards of elections. She received her J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School and a B.S. in Psychology magna cum laude from Spelman College. Long bio: https://tenthdistrictcourt.org/About/Members-of-the-Bench/Judge-Laurel-Beatty-Blunt
