Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court

Season 12023

Documentary series examining the vital role the Supreme Court plays in the context of America’s shifting political landscape. Each of the four episodes features an in-depth look at pivotal cases that altered the state of the union.

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4 Episodes

    E01 The Hearts of Men Can Be Changed

    In the 1950s and 60s, Thurgood Marshall fights to tear down the segregationist system and uses the law to build a more just society, with the help of a Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Earl Warren. It’s an era of progressive decisions that expands the rights of minorities, criminal defendants, and the poor, as the Supreme Court’s role in American life becomes increasingly prominent and bitterly contested.

    September 22, 2023

    E02 A Conservative Revolution

    In the 1970s and 1980s, a new conservative legal and political movement emerges as a backlash to the Warren Court and the later Roe v. Wade decision. This quickly becomes an increasingly influential coalition that sets the direction of the Court and the country over the ensuing decades.

    September 29, 2023

    E03 The Rule of Five

    Most consequential cases of the 1990s rest with the decisive swing votes of Justices O’Connor and Kennedy—both nominated by Republican presidents and sometimes siding with the liberal bloc. Bush v. Gore divides the nation and challenges the perception that the Court operates independently from partisan politics. With George W. Bush’s nominees and his chance to dramatically shift the balance, the Supreme Court enters a new era of ideological polarization.

    October 6, 2023

    E04 Crisis of Legitimacy

    Following the Senate blocking of Merrick Garland’s nomination and the subsequent confirmations of Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett in the era of Trump, the Court moves decisively to the right. With highly controversial rulings such as the Dobbs decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Court of the 2020s increasingly faces charges of extreme partisanship as its relatively young, deeply conservative majority appears set to shape American life over the coming decades.

    October 13, 2023
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