Race, Religion, Romance and Reproductive Rights on the Roberts Court

Judy Brown has had a lifelong fascination with the United States Supreme Court. These days she is particularly concerned with the autonomy and liberty themes that the Court seems to embrace with one hand (same-sex marriage) and reject with the other (birth control, reproduction and voting rights). Trying to make sense of these issues leads to an exploration of the key concerns of Constitutional Law, namely the tension between the states and the federal government and the allocation of power between the courts and the legislatures. Discussing those matters leads in turn to an examination of originalism and other methods of constitutional interpretation as well as the critical question of how political the Court is?or should be?in making its decisions. The legacy of Chief Justice Roberts underscores all of these topics. Judy Brown is Professor Emerita at Northeastern Law School, where she was a member of the faculty for 30 years. She has taught and written extensively on the United States Constitution, concentrating especially on federalism, constitutional rights, and issues of race and gender. For the past nine years she has led OSHER classes on these and related subjects.