Ronald S. and Kathryn K. Christenson Lectureship in Politics and LawWednesday, March 30, 2022

For the 2022 Christenson Lectureship, the Gustavus community was joined by Dr. Tim Johnson, who is from the Gustavus class of '93 and is the Morse Alumni Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Law at the University of Minnesota. 

The U.S. Supreme Court: Still the Least Dangerous Branch?

Wallenberg Auditorium, Nobel Hall of Science

The Founding Fathers considered the U.S. Supreme Court to be the weakest of the three branches of government since, as Alexander Hamilton noted, it held “neither sword nor purse strings.” Yet while a U.S. president may remain in office for two terms or a maximum of eight years, they are also able to influence public policy for decades to follow through appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court. Indeed, justices serve until they retire, die, or are impeached. The average tenure of a justice is 15 years, though many serve longer. As justices hold their decades-long tenures, the Supreme Court has arguably become the most powerful branch of government, deciding on hot-button issues such as abortion rights, gerrymandering, voting rights, and freedom of speech. Once the justices make a decision, it is very difficult for Congress to overturn that decision.

This event was free and open to the public. This event was livestreamed and archived at the link below.

Timothy R. Johnson '93 is Horace T. Morse Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Law at the University of Minnesota and a nationally recognized expert on US Supreme Court oral arguments and decision-making. The former co-editor of Law and Society Review, he is the author or coauthor of four books, and provides commentary frequently for The Economist, The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Slate, National Public Radio, and WCCO, KARE, KSTP, and KMPS, among other venues. Johnson is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2018 American Political Science Association's Distinguished Teaching Award.

During his time at Gustavus, Dr. Tim Johnson will visit two classes: Law and Society and Constitutional Law.

The Ronald S. and Kathryn K. Christenson Lectureship in Politics and Law, established by the Department of Political Science, is being funded by Kathryn Kidd Christenson to honor her late husband, Professor Ron Christenson (1937-1998), who was called to Gustavus in 1969 to establish a department and a major in political science. View the history of past lectures.