Supreme Court Seminar (Dawson)

For more than two centuries, the U.S. Supreme Court has provided a battleground for nearly every controversial issue in our nation's history. Now a veteran team of talented historians--including the editors of the acclaimed Landmark Law Cases and American Society series--have produced the most readable, astute, and up-to-date single-volume history of this venerated institution, as engaging for general readers as it is rigorous for scholars. The Supreme Court chronicles an institution that dramatically evolved from six men meeting in borrowed quarters to the most closely watched tribunal in the world. Underscoring the close connection between law and politics, the authors highlight essential issues, cases, and decisions within the context of the times in which the decisions were handed down. Deftly combining doctrine and judicial biography with case law, they demonstrate how the justices have shaped the law and how the law that the Court makes has shaped our nation, with an emphasis on how the Court responded--or failed to respond--to the plight of the underdog

A clear and compact description of the Supreme Court's function and power, its origin and development, and its relation to other branches of government. Useful for the general reader as well as the legal scholar.

When the first Supreme Court convened in 1790, it was so ill-esteemed that its justices frequently resigned in favor of other pursuits. John Rutledge stepped down as Associate Justice to become a state judge in South Carolina; John Jay resigned as Chief Justice to run for Governor of New York; and Alexander Hamilton declined to replace Jay, pursuing a private law practice instead. As Bernard Schwartz shows in this landmark history, the Supreme Court has indeed travelled a long and interesting journey to its current preeminent place in American life. InA History of the Supreme Court, Schwartz provides the finest, most comprehensive one-volume narrative ever published of our highest court. With impeccable scholarship and a clear, engaging style, he tells the story of the justices and their jurisprudence--and the influence the Court has had on American politics and society. With a keen ability to explain complex legal issues for the nonspecialist, he takes us through both the great and the undistinguised Courts of our nation's history. He provides insight into our foremost justices, such as John Marshall (who established judicial review inMarbury v. Madison, an outstanding display of political calculation as well as fine jurisprudence), Roger Taney (whose legacy has been overshadowed byDred Scott v. Sanford), Oliver Wendell Holmes, Louis Brandeis, Benjamin Cardozo, and others. He draws on evidence such as personal letters and interviews to show how the court has worked, weaving narrative details into deft discussions of the developments in constitutional law. Schwartz also examines the operations of the court

Marcus (director, Institute for Constitutional Studies, George Washington U. Law School) presents the final installment in this eight-volume documentary history of US Supreme Court cases heard between 1789 and 1800. Covering the final two years of that period, this volume contains treatment of 45 cases, including cases that involved issues arising from the undeclared war with France, land dispensation in New York, bills of exchange, bankruptcy, trade laws, and the relationship of citizenship to federal jurisdiction. Eighteen of the cases are provided full treatment, with a brief narrative explanation followed by documents generated at the Supreme Court; copies of lower court records and proceeding sent to the Supreme Court for review; and some supplemental documents from the records of the federal circuit and district courts. Also included are newspaper accounts; state legislative journals; statutes; and correspondence and papers of judges, attorneys, parties to suit, and court observers

The Supreme Court Justices: Illustrated Biographies 1789-2012, Third Edition" provides a single-volume reference profiling every Supreme Court justice from John Jay through Elena Kagan. An original essay on each justice paints a vivid picture of his or her individuality as shaped by family, education, pre-Court career, and the times in which he or she lived. Each biographical essay also presents the major issues on which the justice presided. Essays are arranged in the order of the justices' appointments. Lively anecdotes along with portraits, photographs, and political cartoons enrich the text and deepen readers' understanding of the justices and of the Court. The volume includes an extensive bibliography and is indexed for easy research access. New in this edition are: a foreword by Chief Justice John G. Roberts; a revised essay on Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist; updated essays on sitting or recently retired members of the court; new biographies for Chief Justice John G. Roberts and Associate Justices Samuel A. Alito, Elena Kagan, and Sonia M. Sotomayor; an updated listing of members of the Supreme Court with appointment and confirmation dates; and, an updated bibliography with key sources on the Supreme Court and the justices. For insightful background and lively commentary on the individuals who have served on the Supreme Court of the United States, there is no better reference than this updated new volume. This is a vital reference work for researchers, students, and others interested in the Supreme Court's past, present, and future.

Drugs, Adultery, Bribery, Homosexuality, corruption--and the Supreme Court?!? Your high school history teachers never gave you a book like this one! Secret Lives of the Supreme Court features outrageous and uncensored profiles of America's most legendary justices--complete with hundreds of little-known, politically incorrect, and downright wacko facts. You'll discover that: • Hugo Black was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. • Benjamin Cardozo likely died a virgin. • John Rutledge attempted suicide by jumping off a bridge. • John Marshall Harlan organized regular screenings of X-rated films. • Thurgood Marshall never missed an episode of Days of Our Lives. • Sandra Day O'Connor established the court's first Jazzercise class. • And much, much more! With chapters on everyone from John Jay to Samuel Alito, Secret Lives of the Supreme Court tackles all the tough questions that other history books are afraid to ask: How many of these judges took bribes? How many were gay? And how could so many sink into dementia while serving on the highest court in the land? American history was never this much fun in school!

Revised to include the last eight years of Supreme Court decisions and nominations, this updated classic is the most comprehensive and accessible history of the first 110 members of the U.S. Supreme Court ever written. Henry J. Abraham, one of the nation's preeminent scholars of the judicial branch, addresses the vital questions of why individual justices were nominated to the highest court, how their nominations were received by legislators of the day, whether the appointees ultimately lived up to the expectations of the American public, and the legacy of their jurisprudence on the development of American law and society. Abraham's insights into the history of the Supreme Court are unrivaled by other studies of the subject, and among his numerous observations is that fully one-fifth of its members were viewed as failures by the presidents who appointed them. Enhanced by photographs of every justice from 1789 to 2007, Abraham's eloquent writing and meticulous research guarantee that this book will interest both general readers and scholars.

In this revised third edition of a classic in American jurisprudence, G. Edward White updates his series of portraits of the most famous appellate judges in American history from John Marshall to Oliver W. Holmes to Warren E. Burger, with a new chapter on the Rehnquist Court. White traces the development of the American judicial tradition through biographical sketches of the careers and contributions of these renowned judges. In this updated edition, he argues that the Rehnquist Court's approach to constitutional interpretation may have ushered in a new stage in the American judicial tradition. The update also includes a new preface and revised bibliographic note.

Important additions and revisions in the third edition include: - Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist presiding over the impeachment trial of President William Clinton - How and why the presidential election of 2000 was decided in the Supreme Court - Supreme Court security in the wake of terrorists attacks - Expanded coverage of the First Amendment, privacy, equal protection, and federalism cases that have reached the Court - The Rehnquist Court Legacy.

While much has been written on Supreme Court appointments, Deciding to Leave provides the first systematic look at the process by which justices decide to retire from the bench, and why this has become increasingly partisan in recent years. Since 1954, generous retirement provisions and decreasing workloads have allowed justices to depart strategically when a president of their own party occupies the White House. Otherwise, the justices remain in their seats, often past their ability to effectively participate in the work of the Court. While there are benefits and drawbacks to various reform proposals, Ward argues that mandatory retirement goes farthest in combating partisanship and protecting the institution of the Court.

Bring history to life with this unique collection featuring vivid profiles of famous people, places and historical events. Articles are selected with the curriculum in mind, and include newly written and selected articles from the distinguished Macmillan Reference USA collection. Rewritten for students starting at the middle school level, each volume features a lively 2-color design, photographs, quotes and fascinating sidebars.

A wonderful book that challenges the idea that the Court did nothing of importance prior to Marshall's appointment; . . . it seems destined to become a staple source for the Court's first decade. --Supreme Court Historical Society Quarterly"This absorbing collection of essays . . . goes far toward filling a void in the literature on the early justices of the world's most significant tribunal." --Law and Politics Book Review"This creative and imaginative analysis of America's first national jurists is recommended for all students of Supreme Court history." --Choice"Professor Gerber'sSeriatimis a genuinely welcome work, an imaginative one, and a distinctly needed one. The pre-Marshall period had all--too--long been neglected and when addressed at all, it was usually done in cursory, brief compass. Gerber has done a splendid job in securing experts to analyze the labors and persona of the ten pre-Marshall jurists on our highest bench, and his introduction to the essays is a model of synthesis and clarity." --Henry J. Abraham, James Hart Professor of Government and Foreign Affairs, Emeritus, University of Virginia"This useful collection of biographical essays, bracketed by splendid treatments of John Jay and Oliver Elsworth, goes a long way toward establishing that the first justices of the Supreme Court were an impressive collection of political and constitutional thinkers who did much, before and during their service on the Court, to construct the constitutional order." --Mark Tushnet, Georgetown University Law Center. Seldom has American law seen a more towering figure than Chief Justice John Marshall. Indeed, Marshall is almost universally regarded as the "father of the Supreme Court" and "the jurist who started it all."Yet even while acknowledging the indelible stamp Marshall put on the Supreme Court, it is possible--in fact necessary--to examine the pre-Marshall Court, and its justices, to gain a true understanding of the origins of American constitutionalism. The ten essays in this tightly edited volume were especially commissioned for the book, each by the leading authority on his or her particular subject. They examine such influential justices as John Jay, John Rutledge, William Cushing, James Wilson, John Blair, James Iredell, William Paterson, Samuel Chase, Oliver Ellsworth, and Bushrod Washington. The result is a fascinating window onto the origins of the most powerful court in the world, and on American constitutionalism itself.

Greatness and leadership are two ideas that often intersect, especially in the imagery of leading the pack of more than one hundred Supreme Court justices. Despite differences in interpretation, there are points of agreement concerning the names of the most remarkable people who have been and are the leaders of the pack. This book clarifies constitutional law and the history of America's highest bench by exploring the personalities and times of sixteen justices, from John Marshall to Sandra Day O'Connor and William H. Rehnquist.

The Supreme Court may appear to be a less political body than Congress or the executive branch, but in fact it is a fundamentally political institution. David M. O'Brien shows students how the Supreme Court is a "storm center" of political controversy, where personality, politics, law, and justice come together to help determine the course of public policy.