eBook

That eminent tribunal

Wolfe, Christopher

2004,2009

Overview

The role of the United States Supreme Court has been deeply controversial throughout American history. Should the Court undertake the task of guarding a wide variety of controversial and often unenumerated rights? Or should it confine itself to enforcing specific constitutional provisions, leaving other issues (even those of rights) to the democratic process? That Eminent Tribunalbrings together a distinguished group of legal scholars and political scientists who argue that the Court's power has exceeded its appropriate bounds, and that sound republican principles require greater limits on that power. They reach this conclusion by an interesting variety of paths, and despite varied political convictions. Some of the essays debate the explicit claims to constitutional authority laid out by the Supreme Court itself inPlanned Parenthood v. Caseyand similar cases, and others focus on the defenses of judicial authority found commonly in legal scholarship (e.g., the allegedly superior moral reasoning of judges, or judges' supposed track record of superior political decision making). The authors find these arguments wanting and contend that the principles of republicanism and the contemporary form of judicial review exercised by the Supreme Court are fundamentally incompatible. The contributors include Hadley Arkes, Gerard V. Bradley, George Liebmann, Michael McConnell, Robert F. Nagel, Jack Wade Nowlin, Steven D. Smith, Jeremy Waldron, Keith E. Whittington, Christopher Wolfe, and Michael P. Zuckert.

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Subject: Activism / Adjudication / Amendment / American Government / Americans / Anthony Kennedy / Attempt / Brown v. Board of Education / Commerce Clause / Consideration / Constitutional / Constitutional amendment / Constitutional law / Constitutional law -- United States / Constitutionality / Cooper v. Aaron / Criticism / Deliberation / Directive (European Union) / Discretion / Dred Scott / Due process / Due Process Clause / Equal Protection Clause / Establishment Clause / Federal government of the United States / Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution / Freedom of speech / Injunction / Institution / Interpretation and construction / Judge / Judge-made law / Judge-made law -- United States / Judicial activism / Judicial Branch / Judicial interpretation / Judicial power / Judicial power -- United States / Judicial restraint / Judiciary / Jurisprudence / Jurist / LAW / LAW / Constitutional / Law clerk / Law school / Lawrence v. Texas / Lawyer / Legal culture / Legislation / Legislator / Legislature / Legitimacy (political) / Marbury v. Madison / Morality / Planned Parenthood v. Casey / Plurality opinion / Political culture / Political philosophy / POLITICAL SCIENCE / POLITICAL SCIENCE / American Government / Judicial Branch / Politics / Precedent / Presumption (canon law) / Provision (contracting) / Rehnquist Court / Religious Freedom Restoration Act / Representative democracy / Republicanism / Robert P. George / Roe v. Wade / Ronald Dworkin / Rule of law / Separation of powers / Slavery / Standing (law) / State government / Statute / Substantive due process / Supreme Court / Supreme Court of the United States / Term limit / United States / United States federal judge / United States. Supreme Court
• ISBN: 0691116679, 9780691116679, 9780691116686, 0691116687, 9781400826285, 1400826284