The public lecture has long been the source of informal social opportunities and continuing education. There were several such movements in America during the 19th century that opened exploration, science, arts and politics to ordinary people.

In the spring, I decided to attend a lecture given by an organization called SciTech Café. The subject interested me, but in the aftermath of COVID, so did the social aspect. About one-third of the attendees appeared to be over 60. I felt comfortable. At later presentations, the ratio of older attendees was a bit higher.

This week, I went to Lenox to hear Steve Vladeck, who holds an endowed chair in federal courts at the University of Texas School of Law and is the author of “The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic.”

The library’s Reading Room was set aside for the event. I was a bit late. Because the room was filled, attendees were shepherded to the balcony. I looked down at the large audience of perhaps 150 seated in the room, with a few standing around the edges and, perhaps, another 20 on the balcony. The majority of those in attendance had either gray or white hair.

Where were the young people? By young people, I do not mean teenagers, whether of high school or early college age. I mean people in their first adult jobs, people launching their careers.

I was among my age peers and I was uncomfortable. Why weren’t members of my adult children’s generation in attendance?

Of course, there are many, many reasons why not. Supervisors needing staff to remain for an extra half-hour. Kids to be picked up from summer camp and day care. Dinners to prepare or, as it was a Thursday, takeout orders to pick up, as well as those pesky little errands that turn into complications.

The high school I attended scheduled all seniors into a semester of government and a semester of economics. Few schools offer those classes today. My own adult kids had a course in government, but they graduated in 1996, 1998 and 2004, the last year government was offered. In other words, we — as a society, as parents, as educators — have given up on preparing our grandchildren on knowing what government is.

Let’s pause. Despite having a foundation in high school that at least gave me a vocabulary in government as well as an undergraduate degree in political science, I needed to catch up with the Supreme Court. What was going on? Why? How?

Professor Vladeck did indeed, as The New York Times said, act as “a conscientious guide through the legal thickets,” translating “the court’s deliberately cryptic orders and legal technicalities into accessible English.”

He explained how the court ran during its first 200 years as well as what elements of how the court ran are still in practice. The average number of cases seeking the attention of the high court is about 4,000 each year. The numbers are whittled down to a few dozen.

Today, the justices have more discretion over their docket. For most of its history, the court was the last resort, settling disagreements. Today, the court acts as a law creator. Frankly, I remember both ends of our political spectrum criticizing the law creator facet of today’s court.

Despite the public’s dissatisfaction with the court, there seems to be little we can do to create greater transparency. As Vladeck explained, “The problem with the court is not the justices — who are a problem, the problem is with the court itself.” This court is “hostile to precedent.”

I would like to see more citizens take an interest in the court. Whether that is possible is difficult to say, because most of the problems arise from the subject of Vladeck’s book, the shadow docket that consists of “unsigned orders.”

Unsigned? Unsigned! To me, that sounds like democracy itself is masked. That makes me feel as uncomfortable as I did when I saw a roomful of — I hate to use the phrase — senior citizens.

Let’s petition the return of government to the curriculum of either middle school or senior high school.

Oh, and the next time there’s a public lecture on politics or government or the courts, if your adult kids can not make the time and place, talk to them about it.

Susan Wozniak has been a case worker, a college professor and journalist. She is a mother and grandmother.

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