The American Constitution Society hosted a conversation on Supreme Court Reform with Professors Alison LaCroix and William Baude on January 22nd, in Room I. The professors discussed the beginnings of the reform debate, how the Court’s role impacts our Constitution-based system, judicial terms and other elements related to turnover and length of service, the Court’s size, and the Court’s process of selecting and ruling on cases.
Professors William A. Baude and Alison L. LaCroix were both selected by President Joe Biden to serve on the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States in April 2021.
Professor William Baude is a professor of law and the director of the Law School’s Constitutional Law Institute. At UChicago Law, he teaches federal courts, constitutional law, conflicts of law and the Law School’s “Elements of the Law” course. He received his BA from the University of Chicago and his JD from Yale Law School, after which he served as a clerk for then-Judge Michael McConnell and Chief Justice John Roberts.
Professor Alison L. LaCroix is the Robert Newton Reid Professor of Law; and David A. Strauss, the Gerald Ratner Distinguished Service Professor of Law and the faculty director of the Law School’s Jenner and Block Supreme Court and Appellate Clinic. She teaches constitutional law, legal history, civil procedure, law and linguistics and federal courts at UChicago Law. She received her BA and JD from Yale University, and her AM and PhD from Harvard University, and practiced litigation at the Debevoise & Plimpton LLP New York office.