The Supreme Court and American Democracy

Case Studies on Judicial Review and Public Policy

Earl Pollock

• Publisher: Greenwood
• Year: 2008
• Print ISBN: 9780313365256
• eBook ISBN: 9780313365263
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: Law Theory & Practice
• Index: Law

There is almost no political question in the United States, wrote Alexis de Tocqueville, that is not resolved sooner or later into a judicial question. The U.S. Supreme Court is the ultimate arbiter of judicial questions, weighing the laws enacted by the people's representatives against the inviolable fundamental law embodied in the U.S. Constitution. Virtually every vital political and social issue comes before the Court: abortion, affirmative action, capital punishment, elections and voting, gay rights, gun control, separation of church and state, and more. This book presents living law, the case-by-case shaping of the law on each of these controversial issues, in the justices' own words and with informative commentary. There is almost no political question in the United States, wrote Alexis de Tocqueville, that is not resolved sooner or later into a judicial question. The U.S. Supreme Court is the ultimate arbiter of judicial questions, weighing the laws enacted by the people's representatives against the inviolable fundamental law embodied in the U.S. Constitution. Virtually every vital political and social issue comes before the Court: abortion, affirmative action, capital punishment, elections and voting, gay rights, gun control, separation of church and state, and more. This book presents living law, the case-by-case shaping of the law on each of these controversial issues, in the justices' own words. ; Guide to the Court's functions and the ways in which it goes about its work
; Topically organized sequences of cases through which the law on particular issues evolved, including the facts of each case; the specific issues before the Court; the Court's decision, embodied in the text of the majority opinion; an account of all opinions handed down; and excerpts from the most influential concurrences and dissents
; Commentary summarizing current federal law on each of the controversial topics covered, with notes on the historical background—and in some cases the turbulent aftermath—of the Court's decisions

Table of contents

• Contents
• Preface
• 1. The Constitution and the Supreme Court
• 2. From Marbury to Reconstruction
• 3. Race Discrimination by Government
• 4. Race Discrimination by Private Persons
• 5. Minority Preferences
• 6. Due Process of Law
• 7. Abortion and the “Right of Privacy”
• 8. Terminal Illness Issues
• 9. Gay Rights
• 10. Freedom of Speech
• 11. Freedom of the Press
• 12. The Establishment of Religion Clause
• 13. The Free Exercise Clause
• 14. Executive Powers
• 15. Voting and Elections
• 16. Cruel and Unusual Punishment
• 17. Property Rights
• 18. The Second Amendment
• Appendix A: United States Constitution
• Appendix B: Index of Case Digests
• Appendix C: Table of Case References by Justice
• Acknowledgments
• Selected Bibliography
• Index