SCOTUS Criminal Law Review

This program will cover current criminal cases on the U.S. Supreme Court docket. Attorneys will be provided background on the current composition of the Supreme Court, along with a discussion on Supreme Court procedure and practical considerations which underlie Supreme Court decisions, particularly in criminal law. Attorneys will learn about current Supreme Court cases from both a legal and factual perspective so that attorneys are aware of the legal issues which govern the decision and how the decision may affect the parties, lawyers, judges, and legislators moving forward. Cases will touch on both criminal law and criminal procedure cases under the U.S. Constitution and Federal statutes. 

Attorneys will be given the legal and historical background to each case, and the presenter and the attendees will discuss possible outcomes.

This course is suitable for attorneys at any level and any practice area.

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze the current composition of the Supreme Court; how each Justice approaches issues based on the topic of law; each Justices’ judicial perspectives; and how the most recent Supreme Court appointments have altered the composition of the Court
• Evaluate how the Supreme Court manages and disposes of cases from a practical perspective, including learning about the types of cases that come before the Court, how often cases are overruled, and how litigants progress from the trial court stages of the Federal system through the U.S. Supreme Court
• Investigate the fundamental legal elements which underlie the Supreme Court cases, including a discussion of relevant Constitutional provisions and Supreme Court precedent which are related to the cases at hand, as well as both broad and narrow categories of law for each case that are pertinent to the resolution of specific cases covered in the presentation
• Review specific cases to be able to formulate an understanding of the issue narrowly presented before the Court, as well as predict an outcome based on the material in the presentation to better understand Supreme Court cases and likely follow along with outcomes after the presentation is concluded