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The Supreme Court in Crisis

The Supreme Court which is supposed to be the final arbiter of the nation’s laws—an agency above the political fray—has often been eyed hungrily by wily politicians seeking to fulfill their own their own agendas.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, for instance, whose long tenure in office allowed him to appoint eight justices, thought of increasing the Court to 11 justices in hopes of gaining support for New Deal programs. More recently Donald Trump forwarded a conservative agenda with his choices for three associate justices.

The current conservative Court, which shocked the nation last year by overturning Roe v. Wade and stands poised to overturn other established social safeguards, is not the first that Presidents have used to affect social legislation. The David M. Hunt Library will explore the possibilities during an online virtual presentation “The Supreme Court in Crisis” Thursday, February 9th, at 7 PM.

A panel consisting of Adam Liptak, Tom Gerety and David Rudenstine will discuss recent decisions affecting abortion, gun rights, the public’s trust and confidence in the high court and cases the court will decide this year involving LGBTQ rights, affirmative action, election law and immigration policy.

Adam Liptak covers the Supreme Court for the New York Times, a position he has held for 15 years. Tom Gerety, the former president of Amherst and Trinity Colleges, recently retired as the Collegiate Professor of law and humanities at NYU where he taught constitutional law. David Rudenstine has taught constitutional law for over four decades at the Benjamin N. Cardozo Law School. He has had a residence in Falls Village for more than 20 years.

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