Congress and the Courts: Reading Group
Fall term, Block J
W 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Visiting Professor Amanda Frost
1 classroom credit LAW-33450A Fall
This reading group will explore the relationship between the federal courts and Congress. We will meet every other week for 2 hours at a time. We will begin by discussing Congress's power over federal jurisdiction, with a focus on the Supreme Court's decision in Hamdan and the subsequent enactment of the Military Commissions Act. We will review the process of Senate confirmation of nominees to the federal courts, as well as the congressional power of impeachment. We will then turn to the subject of statutory interpretation, including discussion of textualism, intentionalism, purposivism, and the canons of construction. Our goal for this section of the course will be to investigate the interaction between these two branches of government in crafting the meaning of federal law.