The Nation\u27s Teacher: The Role of the United States Supreme Court During Times of Crisis

This Article will suggest that TJ has occasionally been part of the United States Supreme Court\u27s jurisprudence. The Court sometimes finds itself at the center of deeply-divisive national controversies. On those occasions, the opinion of the Court can, and ought to, play a role in healing the nation\u27s controversy-inflicted wounds. The Court should consciously craft an opinion that speaks to the American people as a whole and that calls on every citizen, regardless of the fervency of his or her beliefs, to accept the resolution of the controversy offered by the Court. During such crises, citizens are unlikely to accept solutions crafted by elected officials, whom they rightly judge to be partisan politicians. The Court\u27s removal from the political process allows it an opportunity to have a therapeutic role in healing the nation\u27s wounds. I shall focus on two decisions: (1) Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the Supreme Court\u27s seminal decision holding that state segregation of students by race in public schools violates the Fourteenth Amendment\u27s equal protection clause; and (2) Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey,\u27 the Court\u27s important decision reaffirming a woman\u27s right to choose