Princeton alumni Heather Gerken ’91, Rick Pildes ’78 and Bertrall Ross *03, along with Keith Whittington, the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Politics in the Department of Politics, were named to the new Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States on April 9, 2021. The 36-person commission is composed of a bipartisan group of experts on the Court and the Court reform debate with expertise in constitutional law, history and political science.
According to the press release issued by the White House, the commission’s purpose is “to provide an analysis of the principal arguments in the contemporary public debate for and against Supreme Court reform, including an appraisal of the merits and legality of particular reform proposals. The topics it will examine include the genesis of the reform debate; the Court’s role in the Constitutional system; the length of service and turnover of justices on the Court; the membership and size of the Court; and the Court’s case selection, rules, and practices.”
One of the country’s leading experts on constitutional law and election law, Gerken is the Dean and Sol & Lillian Goldman Professor of Law at Yale Law School and a charter trustee of Princeton. She is also the founder of the “nationalist school” of federalism, and her work focuses on federalism, diversity and dissent.
Pildes is the Sudler Family Professor of Constitutional Law at New York University School of Law and one of the country’s leading experts on the legal aspects of American democracy and government. His academic work focuses on the political process, as well as legal issues concerning the structure of American government, including the powers of the President, Congress and the Supreme Court.
Ross is the Chancellor’s Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. He teaches and writes in the areas of constitutional law, election law, administrative law and statutory interpretation.
In addition to his academic appointment at Princeton, Whittington is currently the chair of the Academic Freedom Alliance. His work is focused on American constitutional history, politics and law, and on American political thought. He is the author of “Repugnant Laws: Judicial Review of Acts of Congress from the founding to the Present” and “Political Foundations of Judicial Supremacy: The Presidency, the Supreme Court, and Constitutional Leadership in U.S. History.” His book, “Speak Freely: Why Universities Must Defend Free Speech” was chosen by President Eisgruber in 2018 as the Pre-read for the Class of 2022. The Pre-read is a Princeton tradition that introduces first-year students to the intellectual life of the University by offering opportunities to engage with a book that students, faculty and staff read.
