One Supreme Court: What and How Does the U.S. Supreme Court Do What It Does? with Thomas J. Davis

The Supreme Court United States (SCOTUS) in recent years has been in the news more than ever. Controversy and distrust accompany many of its major decisions to a degree that is driving a crisis in public confidence. SCOTUS “is suffering from a historic lack of trust and confidence,” Reporter Domenico Montanaro noted in a May 3, 2023, National Public Radio (NPR) news story. Yet beyond the headline takeaways, few in the public understand exactly what the Court does or how it operates. Reviewing the Court’s Constitutional mandate, how cases reach the Court for decision, and how the Court disposes of cases in its decisions contributes to understanding the Court and its power and role in the US federal structure.

This program is cohosted by Maricopa County Library District – Georgia T. Lord Library.

About the speaker:

Thomas J. Davis is an historian, lawyer, and professor emeritus at Arizona State University, Tempe, where he taught U.S. constitutional and legal history. Dr. Davis also taught as a visiting professor of law at the ASU College of Law. He received his PhD in U.S. history from Columbia University in the City of New York and his JD cum laude from the University at Buffalo School of Law in New York. He has been an AZ Humanities Public Scholar Nominee and served as Arizona’s State Scholar for the 2020-21 Voices and Votes: Democracy in America, Museum on Main St. (MoMS), Smithsonian Institution, traveling exhibition. AZ Humanities bestowed on Dr. Davis the 2021 Founder’s Community Partner Award, recognizing his work “to further public humanities through sustained collaboration and exemplary community outreach.”