The 2020 swapping out of Amy Coney Barrett for the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg has given us the most conservative Supreme Court in perhaps 90 years. High profile decisions overturning long standing precedent on abortion rights, affirmative action and gun rights have led liberal legal academics and many in the media to contest the very legitimacy of the Court itself. In this course, we will take a deeper dive into the Court's work in the past five years or so, with an eye toward a better understanding of the competing notions of judicial legitimacy within the broader parameters of a democratic system of governance.  

David Ryden joined the Hope College political science faculty in 1994 and is currently director of Hope's Washington D.C. honors semester. He has published numerous books and articles on such topics as the Supreme Court and the electoral process, the faith-based initiative, as well as other issues at the intersection of religion and politics. He has participated previously with CALL on three courses related to the Supreme Court.