Fix the Court Hosts Events at Penn and Columbia Law Schools
Fix the Court executive director Gabe Roth has taken the law school road show to the northeast this fall with events at the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University.
At Penn Law on Sept. 22, Roth was joined by Profs. Sophia Lee and Kermit Roosevelt of Penn and Prof. Louis Virelli of Stetson Law as they discussed whether the Supreme Court should undertake reforms to become more modern and transparent or whether the justices have legitimate reasons for their neo-Luddism. Term limits, ethics reform, live audio and travel disclosures were all examined.
At Columbia Law on Oct. 19, Prof. Dave Pozen and Alicia Bannon of the Brennan Center debated whether cameras in the courtroom would serve an educational purpose or would do more to misconstrue the work of the court, since oral argument is but a small percentage of the work that goes in to each case.
They also discussed a proposal for term limits whereby a new justice would be nominated to the court every two years regardless of whether a sitting justice was ready to step down – and thus cases would be heard only by the nine most junior justices. This proposal could also protect against recusals or deaths leaving a court with fewer than nine members.
Fix the Court is planning on hosting additional law school events in New York and D.C. this fall and winter.