Mooc Court | America's Written Constitution with Akhil Reed Amar

Roughly 10,000 cases petition the Supreme Court each year and about 75 are heard. Teaching assistants Nick Crown and Bradley Silverman walk through that process and then argue two live cases. The first half of this bonus session explains how constitutional law actually gets made: certiorari and discretionary review, why the courts of appeals are the last stop for nearly every litigant, and how majority, plurality, concurring, and dissenting opinions carry different precedential weight. Harlan's lone dissent in Plessy becoming the reasoning of Brown v. Board of Education serves as the example. The second half takes up two cases then pending. Holt v. Hobbs asks whether an Arkansas grooming policy can bar a Muslim prisoner from growing a half-inch beard, which leads through Employment Division v. Smith, RFRA, RLUIPA, and the Hobby Lobby decision, and to the harder question of whether such statutes themselves favor religion. Elonis v. United States asks whether a threat posted on Facebook in the form of rap lyrics requires proof that the writer meant it as a threat, or only that a reasonable reader would take it as one. Along the way they connect the statute's interstate commerce hook back to Amar's lectures. Chapters: 00:00 How a case reaches the Supreme Court 03:17 Concurrences, dissents, and pluralities 05:23 When a dissent becomes the majority 08:57 Holt v. Hobbs, and a half-inch beard 11:34 Employment Division v. Smith, RFRA, and RLUIPA 15:43 The search for a limiting principle 22:59 Is a blanket ban the least restrictive means 24:31 Elonis v. United States 25:31 The interstate hook, and bratty children 29:37 Intent, or the reasonable listener 38:17 Chilling speech, and rap lyrics 43:34 Predictions Learning objectives: After watching, you'll be able to: - Describe the path of a case from petition for certiorari through published opinion - Distinguish majority, plurality, concurring, and dissenting opinions by precedential weight - Apply the three-part test that RFRA and RLUIPA impose on laws burdening religious exercise - Explain the interstate commerce hook and why Congress attaches it to criminal statutes - Weigh the intent standard against the reasonable listener standard for true threats 📺 Watch the full playlist on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCq6-l8oFuvk 🎓 Enroll on Coursera for assessments and a certificate: https://www.coursera.org/learn/written-constitution 🌐 Explore more learning opportunities on Yale Online: https://online.yale.edu/courses/americas-written-constitution