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Supreme Court
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What is Supreme Court?

The Supreme Court stands as the highest judicial authority in the United States, making it a central subject across law, political science, sociology, and history courses. Students write about it because its decisions shape constitutional interpretation, define the boundaries of individual rights, and reflect broader conflicts within American society. Cases like Dred Scott v. Sanford, Powell v. Alabama, and Local 28 Sheet Metal Workers v. EEOC illustrate how the Court has engaged with questions of racial equality, due process, and civil rights across different eras. The Warren Court's controversial rulings in the late 1950s further demonstrate how judicial philosophy can provoke lasting political and social debate.

Papers on this topic take several distinct approaches. Historical analyses trace how landmark decisions evolved from earlier precedents, while case-review essays closely examine a single ruling — such as Georgia v. Randolph or Montejo v. Louisiana — to evaluate the Court's reasoning and its practical consequences. Comparative approaches appear as well, such as weighing the implications of Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 against broader desegregation policy. Some papers focus on individual justices like Hugo Black or Clarence Thomas to explore how judicial philosophy influences constitutional interpretation over time.

A strong essay on the Supreme Court requires a focused thesis built around a specific decision, doctrine, or period rather than attempting to survey the entire institution. Legal reasoning and constitutional text carry the most weight as evidence, supported by the Court's written opinions. A common pitfall is treating a ruling's outcome as self-evidently correct or incorrect without carefully engaging with the majority's legal logic and any dissenting arguments.

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Essay Doctorate

Judicial review of zoning board authority in Shackford v. Kennebunk

The case of Shackford & Gooch, Inc. et al. v. The Town of Kennebunk et al. concerns a disagreement over zoning and construction without a permit. The case discussion here examines the role of authority as it relates to the Superior Court and the Zoning Board at issue here. In evaluation of the appeal, the discussion points to the importance of municipal agency empowerment.

Paper Doctorate

Starting a real gun control debate in the United States public sphere

This paper focuses on debating gun control within the public sphere. It begins by defining the public sphere and explaining how the public sphere serves as a mediator between the private sphere and public authority. It then goes on to describe how the modern gun control debate, though occurring in the public sphere, has been co-opted by small private-sphere public interest groups, which do not represent the interests of most Americans.

Paper Undergraduate

Healthcare as a constitutional right versus privilege in America

This paper examines the ethics of universal healthcare. It is a first-person narrative discussion that begins with an examination of whether healthcare is a right or a privilege. It then draws on classical ethical approaches to determine whether the provision of universal healthcare is ethical or unethical.

Essay Doctorate

Constitutional and moral arguments surrounding public school prayer

Public School Prayer: Is it Constitutional and Moral?

Paper Doctorate

Political reforms needed to restore American democracy and civic virtue

Restoring democracy and civic virtue in the United States will require major reforms that reduce the power of corporations, elites and special interests in the whole political process. Right now, there is a radical disconnect between the political and economic elites and the needs and interests of the ordinary voters. Most people today realize that the country is in its worse crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s, but government and the political system seem dysfunctional and incapable of dealing with it. Removing the power and control of big money from the political process forever would be the most important step in revitalizing American democracy and making the system more representative and accountable. So would eliminating the Electoral College and electing the president and vice president by a majority of the popular vote. Despite the protests of small states, only this type of reform might actually pressure presidential candidates to campaign more widely for votes instead of concentrating on a few large states, or visiting big cities where the wealthiest donors reside. In addition, the Senate seems particularly dysfunctional and more responsive to the needs of elites and corporate interests than the people. Its use of the filibuster was always an absurdity, especially when the South frequently united in a bloc to prevent blacks from obtaining civil and political rights, and the system today simply maintains a kind of status quo that concentrates all wealth and power at the upper levels of society.

Paper Doctorate

Gun control effectiveness, constitutionality, and political lobbying in America

Gun control in America has been a hotly contested issue for several decades. About 80 million Americans, representing half of U.S. homes, own more than 223 million guns. According to Andrew Romano and Pat Wingert the…

Paper Doctorate

Jury deliberation and conflict resolution in Twelve Angry Men

As a portrayal of a microcosm of society—enhanced by its drill-down into the 1950s era in which the plot unfolds—few films are as excruciatingly accurate as 12 Angry Men. The story lends itself to analysis of team dynamics and conflict resolution techniques, with the promise of extending beyond explicit attributes, such as an all-male cast, and less explicit themes, such as ambiguous hints about ethnicity and race. The film 12 Angry Men is a story about the deliberations of a jury in a capital murder case that takes place in New York City in 1957. An 18-year old non-Caucasian male, who is apparently from marginalized socio-economic strata, has been accused of stabbing his father to death. A jury of 12 men will deliberate his guilt or innocence against a backdrop of an automatic death sentence for a guilty verdict. The stage play origin of the story is evident in the staging with all of the film action occurring in the jury room, representing a single afternoon and evening during which the deliberations of the jury take place. At the onset, the case is considered to be an open-and-shut matter, but all the jurors must believe in the guilt of the defendant beyond a reasonable doubt—the verdict must be unanimous. But as the prejudices, preconceptions, and disagreements of the jurors unfold, raw notions about legal trials, minorities, and the stark range of perspectives and opinions steer the jurors off a sure course.

Essay Doctorate

Government policies and strategies for reducing Indiana's prison population

In United States, the judicial system is available to provide safety and justice to the people. Unfortunately, the U.S. criminal justice system has failed to perform its duty properly. It has not stopped the criminal activities nor is it cost effective. About 25% of the world's prison population is in U.S. that makes U.S. the largest jailer of the world (Kirchoff, 2010). One of the densely populated U.S. states is Indiana that comes on 15th position according to its population out of the 50 states. Indiana has a sustainable economy, it reported largest surplus among all the U.S states having $1.2billion.

Essay Doctorate

Whitt v Harris Teeter sexual harassment and commercial law

American Business law is also known as commercial and corporate law. It governs all business and commercial transactions, but most consider it to be a branch of civil law that has evolved into a more specific level of focus. This form of law governs manufacture and distribution of goods, guarantees, accidents, corporate responsibilities, contracts, hiring practices, and the manufacture and sales of consumer goods. In the United States, unlike some other countries, commercial law is part of the purview of the U.S. Congress and the civil codes that govern laws between the states. This template came about based on needing to establish some sort of legal venue that would transcend individual state's jurisdictions so that goods could be transported between states and still have legal protection

Essay Doctorate

Eyewitness identification reliability under Neil v. Biggers guidelines

The Supreme Court, in Neil v. Biggers, 409 U.S. 188, 93 S. Ct. 375 (1972), set out some guidelines as to what a court must consider when it is trying to determine how much credibility to give to eyewitness testimony.

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