The Supreme Court

In celebration of Constitution Day (and I must admit I have not thought of Consititution Day in a long while), Roberts Wesleyan College sponsored a lecture by James C. Moore, Senior Counsel to the Rochester-based law firm of Harter Secrest & Emery LLP. He spoke on "The US Supreme Court: Recent Decisions of Significance; What Impact will a New President Have on the Court?"

I always try to attend these Cultural Enrichment Lectures - they present current issues in fields I am not necessarily involved with and I appreciate the exposure. Generally I find them interesting but not necessarily riveting. Once in awhile they are just too dry. This one was fascinating. The speaker, an older gentleman, seemed to have a good sense of what students were likely to know and what should be explained without making it seem like he was being patronizing.

Lecture attendees were given the Hip Pocket Guide to the United States Constitution and his lecture handout. His presentation was well organized, his handouts giving just the right amount of information for us to follow along. We worked through the various recent appointments to the Supreme Court, how each judge sees the role of the Supreme Court, who usually votes conservatively, who votes liberally, who has the swing vote. He gave us some insight as to how one becomes a Supreme Court Justice, what role politics have played over the last number of presidencies, and a discussion of three interesting cases recently decided including the Guantanamo hearing (the interesting and new part for me hearing a summary of the entire thing).

He basically laid out a case for how past appointments have affected both the cases being heard and the decisions handed down. Then he directed us to seek online the information about McCain's and Obama's position on this issue. Surely the next president will need to appoint a new Justice, given the ages of some of the current Justices. An interesting and fairly well rounded talk.