In the first policy workshop of the program, students take on roles of petitioners, respondents, and Justices in arguing two recent Supreme Court cases. In 2024, students relitigated District of Columbia v. Heller, a landmark 5-4 vote from 2008 regarding the Second Amendment, National Labor Relations Board vs Noel Canning, a unanimous decision from 2014 that delimited the President’s recess appointment authority, Grundy v. United States which held that the regulations by the U.S. Attorney General do not violate the nondelegation doctrine, or Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau which found that a sole director that could only be terminated for cause violated the separation of powers. In each case, fellows read through the briefs of petitioner and respondent, as well as other relevant documents such as Federalist Papers. In oral arguments the Fellows were guided by Jeremy Rozansky, J.D., University of Chicago Law School, Adam Chan, J.D., Columbia Law School, Tiernan Kane, J.D., Harvard Law School, and Ryan Proctor, J.D., Harvard Law School. As the four groups learned about how cases are tried at the summit of the United States legal system, the students came to understand how various interpretations of our nation's law must sometimes be resolved by the judicial authority.

As artificial intelligence and wearable technology advance toward making real a world hitherto only imagined in science fiction, what will the future be for humanity? In this 2024 policy workshop, students studied biological and ethical perspectives on humanity and technology. Their seminar discussion of these concerns led them to investigate transhumanism, its proponents, and its opponents. After mutually broadening their understanding of the issues at hand, students were then assigned a particular perspective and asked to debate each other about cybernetic technology and the human future.

This week five workshop saw the 2024 cohort examine contemporary issues regarding race, crime, and criminal justice reform. In seminars held at the Hudson Institute, students discussed race relations in America, and their relationship to policing. These conversations also concerned public opinion of police as well as the need for law enforcement; students reviewed the 2018 First Step Act, its implementation, and approaches to prison and rehabilitation. Led by John P. Walters — Hudson CEO, Director of the Political Studies program, and former director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) — students gained an appreciation for issues of race and the need for sustained public attention to crime and criminal justice reform.