The new Supreme Court term will begin Monday October 3, 2022, and the Court will again be open to the public. The Court has an active term ahead, particularly with two controversial affirmative action cases on the docket, both to be argued on October 31^st.  The Harvard College case and the University of North Carolina case will look at whether these institutions may use race as a factor in admissions and whether their efforts at racial balancing violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

You can find detailed information (including case summaries) for the upcoming Supreme Court term at the SCOTUS Blog . You can also view the case briefs at the Supreme Court’s website (under CASE DOCUMENTS click the link for Docket Search and enter the docket number of the case you are interested in).

The Court will again be making available to the public live audio of the arguments.  Check for the link on the Supreme Court’s web site on the day of argument.

This Sunday, September 18, 2022, marks the two-year anniversary of the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  Justice Ginsburg was the second woman to serve as a justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.  She left behind an enormous legacy – one that includes not only her signature lace-collar but the transformation of women’s rights in the United States. “The Notorius RBG” visited NYLS a few times in her long and illustrious career.  In 2018, she gave the Sidney Shainwald Public Interest Lecture.  At the lecture, she was interviewed by NYLS Professor Nadine Strossen.  In 1999, Justice Ginsburg spoke at the NYLS Law Review Dinner.  Visit our NYLS Digital Commons repository to find more information and pictures.

Over on the SCOTUSblog, Prof. Stephen Wermiel offers a quick review of the debate dividing the justices about when to overrule constitutional precedent and when to follow it.  It’s a debate he describes as certain to continue when the Court begins its new term on Monday.  Read the post here.