The Supreme Court
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4.6 • 5 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
The sixteenth Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist’s classic book offers a lively and accessible history of the Supreme Court.
Chief Justice Rehnquist’s engaging writing illuminates both the high and low points in the Court's history, from Chief Justice Marshall’s dominance of the Court during the early nineteenth century through the landmark decisions of the Warren Court. Citing cases such as the Dred Scott decision and Roosevelt's Court-packing plan, Rehnquist makes clear that the Court does not operate in a vacuum, that the justices are unavoidably influenced by their surroundings, and that their decisions have real and lasting impacts on our society. The public often hears little about the Supreme Court until decisions are handed down. Here, Rehnquist reveals its inner workings--the process by which cases are chosen, the nature of the conferences where decisions are made, and the type of debates that take place. With grace and wit, this incisive history gives a dynamic and informative account of the most powerful court in the nation and how it has shaped the direction America has taken.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
As the Chief Justice notes, this is not a treatise on constitutional law. Rather, it is a genial, reader-friendly account of the least understood of the three branches of government. Rehnquist begins with a recollection of his service as a clerk for Justice Robert H. Jackson, follows with a succinct and highly readable history of the Court from the time of John Marshall to the mid-20th century and closes with a detailed explanation of how the present Court goes about its business. Among the cases highlighted are Marbury v. Madison, which established the authority of the federal courts to declare a law passed by Congress unconstitutional and therefore void; the pro-slavery Dred Scott decision; and the 1952 Steel Seizure case, one of the most important confrontations between the executive and judicial branches. The relationship between all three branches of government is brought into sharp focus in a section on FDR's court-packing attempt in 1937.
