Constitutionally Speaking is the latest publication to be published by the New Jersey State Bar Foundation. The first edition of the publication is a 12-page primer devoted to the U.S. Supreme Court. Topics discussed in this inaugural issue include the origins of the Court, possible reforms for the Court, the influence dissents on the Court have had throughout history, as well as the debate over originalism vs. living constitutionalism when interpreting the U.S. Constitution. Each article contains discussion questions and relevant glossary words.
This is just the first in a five-part series of primers that take a deep dive into civics-related topics. The next primer in the Constitutionally Speaking series will be devoted to the Fifth Amendment and is slated for distribution in fall 2025. Other topics in the series will include the voting amendments, the Presidential Amendments and the Fourteenth Amendment.
Print copies maybe ordered using our Publication Order Form. Educators can also download a PDF of Constitutionally Speaking’s inaugural issue here. In addition, the individual articles are posted to the NJSBF’s civics blog, The Informed Citizen.
Any questions, contact the editor of Constitutionally Speaking, Jodi L. Miller. She can be reached via email at jmiller@njsbf.org.
Here’s a sampling of the articles contained in Constitutionally Speaking–The U.S. Supreme Court:
Establishing Judicial Review–Origins of the U.S. Supreme Court
A 2024 Gallup poll revealed that 52% of Americans disapprove of the job that the U.S. Supreme Court is doing. According to a 2024 Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs poll, 7 in 10 Americans believe the justices on the Court are motivated by ideology, not fairness.
Ken I. Kersch, a political science professor at Boston College and author of The Supreme Court and American Political Development, says the Court has faced disapproval since its inception. READ MORE
The Influence of a U.S. Supreme Court Dissent
When a U.S. Supreme Court majority opinion is released, legal scholars scrutinize it, either praising it for its considered legal argument or disparaging it because they disagree with its conclusion. What about the dissenting opinion?
Not much attention is paid to dissenting opinions—most of the time. U.S. Supreme Court dissenting opinions sometimes influence future opinions of the Court, shape case law, and in some cases, change the course of U.S. history. READ MORE
Is the U.S. Constitution Dead or Alive?
When the U.S. Constitution was written in 1787 it took at least 30 seconds to load a musket. Could the framers of the Constitution have envisioned automatic weapons? In a time when writing daily letters was the norm could they have imagined the legal issues related to email, texting or the internet?
How do courts, from lower courts all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, interpret the U.S. Constitution to decide 21st Century issues? Two schools of thought on interpreting the U.S. Constitution—originalism and living constitutionalism—take differing views. READ MORE
Supreme Court Reforms—from Court Packing to Term Limits
Amid calls for U.S. Supreme Court reform, then President Joseph Biden issued an executive order in April 2021 that formed the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States. The commission, comprised of experts on the Court and the Court reform debate, was not established to make recommendations to the President, but to provide “analysis of the principal arguments in the contemporary public debate for and against Supreme Court reform, including an appraisal of the merits and legality of particular reform proposals.” In December 2021, the commission submitted its final report to the President. READ MORE