Legal analyst and journalist Jeffrey Toobin discusses The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court as part of the Herman Schwartz Distinguished Lecture Series on Justice, cosponsored by Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy and the Alliance for Justice
Toobin, a staff writer at the New Yorker and senior legal analyst for CNN, is one of the most highly regarded legal journalists in the country.
In his lecture, Toobin will discuss the history, politics, and interpersonal dynamics of the Supreme Court- The New School
Bio
Nan Aron
A leading voice in public interest law for over 30 years, Nan Aron is President of the Alliance for Justice, a national association of public interest and civil rights organizations. Nan, who founded the Alliance in 1979, guides the organization in its mission to advance the cause of justice for all Americans, strengthen the public interest community's influence on national policy and foster the next generation of advocates.
In 1985, Nan founded the Alliance's Judicial Selection Project, now the country's premier voice for a fair and independent judiciary and a major player in the often-controversial judicial nominations process. Notable accomplishments include helping to defeat Robert Bork's nomination to the Supreme Court in 1987; supporting the nomination of Roger Gregory, the first African American judge in the Fourth Circuit, in 2001; and organizing the effort that helped support ten Senate filibusters against President George W. Bush's most extreme judicial nominees.
Fred P. Hochberg
Fred P. Hochberg is the dean of Milano at The New School for Management and Urban Policy.
Hochberg has more than twenty-five years of experience in business, government, civil rights activities, and philanthropy. From 1998 through 2000, he served as deputy and then acting administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), an agency elevated to cabinet rank by President Bill Clinton, with more than 4,000 employees and 100 offices across the country.
At the SBA, he directed the delivery of a comprehensive set of financial and business development programs for entrepreneurs, with particular outreach to women and minorities. He also served on President Clinton's Management Council.
Jeffrey Toobin
Jeffrey Toobin is a staff writer at The New Yorker and a senior analyst for CNN. “The Mitigator,” his piece about capital punishment and Danalynn Recer, appeared in the May 9th issue.
Final court of appeal in the U.S. judicial system and final interpreter of the Constitution of the United States. The Supreme Court was created by the Constitutional Convention of 1787 as the head of a federal court system, though it was not formally established until Congress passed the Judiciary Act in 1789. It was granted authority to act in cases arising under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the U.S.; in controversies to which the U.S. is a party; in controversies between states or between citizens of different states; in cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; and in cases affecting ambassadors or other ministers or consuls. Its size, which is set by Congress, varied between 6 and 10 members before being set at 9 in 1869. Justices are appointed by the president but must be confirmed by the Senate. The court has exercised the power of judicial review since 1803, when it first declared part of a law unconstitutional in Marbury v. Madison, though the power is not explicitly granted to it by the Constitution. Though the court can sometimes serve as a trial court through its original jurisdiction, relatively few cases reach the court in this manner; most cases arise by appeal or by certiorari. Among the most important doctrinal sources used by the Supreme Court have been the commerce, due-process, and equal-protection clauses of the Constitution. It also has often ruled on controversies involving civil liberties (seecivil liberty), including freedom of speech and the right of privacy. Much of its work consists of clarifying, refining, and testing the Constitution's philosophic ideals and translating them into working principles.
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