What role did the founding fathers envision for the judiciary, and how has that role evolved over time? Join top retired federal judges Diane P. Wood and Kent A. Jordan in a program moderated by Janet McDavid for an overview of the federal court system as an independent third branch of the federal government under Article II of the Constitution, as well as an examination of important issues involving the judiciary, including:
- How real judges do their work and the processes they use
- The roles of District Courts, Courts of Appeal, and the Supreme Court
- The role of judicial independence and mechanisms to protect independence
- The politicization of judicial appointments
- How judges interpret the Constitution and laws
- How judges interact with the other two branches of government and the separation of powers
- Whether, and if so, how, judges become involved in policy issues
- The role of the courts in landmark issues, such as civil rights, reproductive rights, and the powers of the Executive and Legislative branches
- How the courts enforce their decisions and what happens if a party will not comply with the court’s mandate
- How does the judiciary govern itself
- What are the federal courts doing vis-à-vis the states
- Recent significant decisions, including the Supreme Court’s “shadow docket,” and what a lower court can or should do when the Supreme Court sends a case back for further proceedings without extensive guidance
The speakers:
Judge Diane P. Wood was nominated in 1995 by President Bill Clinton to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, serving as Chief Judge from 2013 to 2020. She retired from the bench in 2024. She clerked on the Supreme Court for Justice Harry Blackmun (one of the first women to clerk for the Supreme Court) and previously clerked for Judge Irving Goldberg on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She has served on the faculty of the University of Chicago Law School since 1981, when she was the only woman on the faculty. She also serves as Director of the American Law Institute.
Judge Kent A. Jordan was nominated by President George W. Bush to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in 2006. He was previously nominated by President Bush to the United States District Court for Delaware in 2002, where he served until 2006. He retired from the bench in 2025 and joined the Delaware firm of Richards Layton & Finger. Before his judicial service, Judge Jordan served as an Assistant United States Attorney and was in private law practice. He is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Janet McDavid will moderate the program. She is Senior Counsel Emerita at Hogan Lovells in Washington, DC, where she was previously a partner. She was the Chair of the Section of Antitrust Law of the American Bar Association and the International Bar Association. She provided transition advice to the Clinton, Bush, and Obama Administrations.
