Erwin Chemerinsky: The Changing Role of the US Supreme Court

With the recent appointments of Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, the balance on the U.S. Supreme Court has shifted fundamentally toward the conservatives, and a series of precedent-breaking decisions issued during the 2022 session confirms it. The implications of the Dodd decision alone are far reaching for individual rights, not to mention those cases that focus on the government’s ability to regulate policy in areas like immigration, the environment, the separation of church and state, and gun safety. In many respects, the court majority's ideological shift to an originalist approach to constitutional interpretation has upset the balance of power and redrawn the traditional lines separating the three branches of government in our democracy.

As the court opens its fall session, Dean Chemerinsky will discuss the new justices and these recent decisions as well as upcoming cases before the court which address critical issues like affirmative action and the independence of state legislatures. He will shed light on how the changing role of the Supreme Court might affect the future of our democracy.

He will also discuss Chemerinsky’s new book, Worse than Nothing: The Dangerous Fallacy of Originalism.

This program is part of an ongoing series on the Future of Democracy.

October 13, 2022

Speakers

Erwin Chemerinsky
Dean, University of California Berkeley School of Law

Roy Eisenhardt
Lecturer, University of California Berkeley School of Law—Moderator

👉Join our Email List! https://www.commonwealthclub.org/email

🎉 BECOME a MEMBER: https://www.commonwealthclub.org/memb...

The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum 📣, bringing together its 20,000 members for more than 500 annual events on topics ranging across politics, culture, society and the economy.

Founded in 1903 in San Francisco California 🌉, The Commonwealth Club has played host to a diverse and distinctive array of speakers, from Teddy Roosevelt in 1911 to Anthony Fauci in 2020.

In addition to the videos🎥 shared here, the Club reaches millions of listeners through its podcast🎙 and weekly national radio program📻.