Ithaca College’s annual observance of Constitution Day will feature a talk by political scientist Kevin McMahon, author of the forthcoming book “A Supreme Court Unlike Any Other: The Deepening Divide Between the Justices and the People.” Free and open to the public, McMahon’s presentation will be held on Thursday, Sept. 14, at 7 p.m. in Williams 323.
McMahon is the John R. Reitemeyer Professor of Political Science at Trinity College in Connecticut. His previous books include “Reconsidering Roosevelt on Race” and “Nixon’s Court,” which was selected by the Supreme Court Historical Society for its rarely awarded Erwin N. Griswold Book Prize. An expert on the American presidency, constitutional law, and civil liberties, he taught in the Department of Politics at Ithaca College earlier in his academic career.
In his presentation, McMahon will discuss how today’s Supreme Court is constructed in a fashion far less consistent with the democratic principle of majority rule, and the challenges its distinctive nature presents for the American people.
The event is sponsored by the Legal Studies Program in Ithaca College’s School of Humanities and Sciences in honor of Constitution Day, which commemorates the formation and signing of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787.