Why you should attend

A distinguished faculty, including constitutional scholars, a law school dean, and a Supreme Court journalist, will analyze, discuss, and debate the leading Supreme Court decisions of the October 2012 Term. The faculty represents a variety of constitutional views and perspectives, and the decisions will be analyzed for their precedential, doctrinal, and ,where appropriate, their societal and litigation significance.

What you will learn

This Term the Supreme Court is expected to decide an unusual number of cases presenting controversial constitutional issues. Highlighting the Court's docket are issues concerning such "hot button" issues as gay marriage, affirmative action, and Congress's power to prevent racial discrimination in voting. The decisions in these cases are expected to resolve fundamental constitutional issues of marital, racial, and voting equality.



The Court also has several important criminal procedure cases, including cases involving Fourth Amendment searches, pre-arrest police questioning, and the right to counsel.



The Court again turns its attention to dispute resolution, litigation, and other business interest issues. These cases present a wide range of questions pertaining to Title VII employment discrimination litigation, class actions, arbitration, the Alien Tort Claims Act, takings claims, preemption, and patents.



Some of the specific issues are:

• Constitutionality of the 1965 Voting Rights Act preclearance provisions (Shelby County v. Holder)

• Constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act and California prohibition of gay marriage (United States v. Windsor; Hollingsworth v. Perry)

• Whether a state university race- based student admission affirmative action program violates the Equal Protection Clause (Fisher v. University of Texas)

• Whether the Fourth Amendment allows the state to compel arrestees to provide DNA samples for a DNA database (Maryland v. King)





Cost: $995*



*PLI Offers Scholarships

Full and partial scholarships are available for judges, judicial law clerks, law professors, law students, attorneys 65 or older, law librarians, attorneys who work for nonprofit organizations, legal services organizations or government agencies, and unemployed attorneys.





PLI's live programs are approved in all states that require mandatory continuing legal education for attorneys. Please visit our website for additional State CLE information.