Confirming Justice—Or Injustice?

A Guide to Judging RBG's Successor

Alan Dershowitz

• Publisher: Hot Books
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9781510765672
• eBook ISBN:
  9781510765689
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: American Government
• Index: Politics & International Relations

In Confirming Justice—Or Injustice?, Alan Dershowitz— New York Times bestselling author and one of America's most respected legal scholars—contemplates the past, present, and future of the Supreme Court, from the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the confirmation battle looming over President Trump's nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett. Alan Dershowitz has been called "one of the most prominent and consistent defenders of civil liberties in America" by Politico and "the nation's most peripatetic civil liberties lawyer and one of its most distinguished defenders of individual rights" by Newsweek. He is also a fair-minded and even-handed expert on the Constitution and American government, and in this book offers his knowledge and insight to help readers understand the current circumstances surrounding the Supreme Court and the looming partisan battle for its future. Confirming Justice—Or Injustice? is an analysis of every aspect of the possible confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacant seat left by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. It includes timely commentary on the history and process of confirming justices to the Supreme Court, notes about what might happen if the process is changed—such as by court packing or instituting age or term limits for justices—and discussion of the roles of the various people and groups who might have input on the confirmation, from the president to the senate to the judiciary committee to the Constitution itself. In the end, Confirming Justice—Or Injustice? represents an icon in American law and politics reckoning with an increasingly politicized and polarized nomination-and-confirmation process for judges and what those shifts might mean for the country, both now and in days to come. It is essential reading for anyone interested in or concerned about Trump's nomination of Amy Coney Barrett and the process of her possible confirmation, the legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and the future and fate of the Supreme Court—and American democracy itself.

Table of contents

• TItle Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: The Role of the President in Nominating a Justice: Does President Trump Have the Power to Nominate RBG’s Replacement?
• Chapter 2: The Role of the Senate: Placing Principle above Partisanship in Replacing Justice Ginsburg
• Chapter 3: The Role of the Sitting Justice: Should Ginsburg Have Retired While Barack Obama was President?
• Chapter 4: The Role of the Vice President: Can He Cast the Deciding Vote On Whether the Senate Consents to a Supreme Court Nominee?
• Chapter 5: The Role of the Constitution: What If Justice Ginsburg Were In a Coma?
• Chapter 6: The Role of the Judiciary Committee: What Questions May Senators Properly Ask Judge Barrett About Her Catholic Faith?
• Chapter 7: The Role of Law Enforcement: Are We Prepared for Post-Election Violence?
• Appendix 1: DON’T PICK JUDGES THE WAY WE DO!
• Appendix 2: The Recusal Statute
• Acknowledgments