In 1803, the appointed U.S. Supreme Court justices claimed the power to make judgements binding elected officials based on judicial review and their authority to apply constitutional mandates as the supreme law of the land. The recent challenges to conservative judicial activist policy-making by the Roberts court and proposed reforms are only the latest of many such power struggles among the court, Congress, the President, and the states. UC Professor Emeritus Howard Tolley will provide a historical overview of how those struggles have evolved as the balance of power has shifted.

Moderator: Howard Tolley, UC Professor Emeritus of Political Science, taught courses on the US legal system, Supreme Court, civil liberties, and international human rights for 27 years. As a professional neutral, he served as a labor law fact finder and arbitrator. He offers Supreme Court classes for OLLIs in Ohio, Florida, Oklahoma, and Arizona where he spends the winter.