Institute Film Series
Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court 
Episodes 1 + 2: Thursday, November 9, 2023, 5:00 p.m. 
Episodes 3 + 4: Thursday, November 16, 2023, 5:00 p.m. 
Wolfensohn Hall 


Dawn Porter's four part series on the Supreme Court released through Showtime and Paramount+ provides a history of the Supreme Court from the Warren years to June 2023.  While often controversial, the Court’s decisions recently have provoked questions about its legitimacy, conflicts of interest, and politicization of the appointments process. Porter, a former lawyer, is also the director of John Lewis: Good trouble as well as her 2016 award winning film Trapped, a film about targeted restrictions on abortion providers (TRAP) laws that have been passed restricting access to abortion in many states.  

The Institute Film Series will screen two episodes at a time. The screening on November 9 will feature the first two episodes "The Hearts of Men Can Be Changed" and "A Conservative Revolution". The screening on November 16 will feature the 3rd and 4th episodes, "The Rule of Five" and "Crisis of Legitimacy".

Each episode is an hour long. Following the screening there will be an informal discussion in Rubenstein Commons Cafe.