Monday, November 4, 2019, 11:30 AM – 1 PM EST

ROBERT SCHAPIRO, Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law, Emory University School of Law

“From Justice Kennedy to Justice Kavanaugh: The United States Supreme Court in a Time of Transition”

For most of his thirty years on the United States Supreme Court, and especially after the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor in 2006, Justice Anthony Kennedy stood at the center of a divided court.  Though he generally sided with his more conservative colleagues, on a range of important issues, from the death penalty to abortion to affirmative action, Justice Kennedy moderated the conservative trajectory of the Court.  His replacement by Justice Brett Kavanaugh opens a new chapter in the history of the Court.  The 2018-2019 Term of the Court gave some indication of the Court’s new direction, with Justice Kavanaugh offering some surprising and unsurprising votes.  The Supreme Court Term beginning in October 2019 promises to be more revealing and more controversial, as the Justices grapple with topics including immigration, LGBT rights, and gun control, and they may well return once again to abortion and the Affordable Care Act. In today’s Colloquium, Robert will review some of the key decisions from last year, preview some of the significant cases of this Term, and discuss the larger themes of the Court’s evolving jurisprudence.