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brown v board of education judicial activism: From the Grassroots to the Supreme Court Peter F. Lau, 2004-12-07 Perhaps more than any other Supreme Court ruling, Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 decision declaring the segregation of public schools unconstitutional, highlighted both the possibilities and the limitations of American democracy. This collection of sixteen original essays by historians and legal scholars takes the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of Brown to reconsider the history and legacy of that landmark decision. From the Grassroots to the Supreme Court juxtaposes oral histories and legal analysis to provide a nuanced look at how men and women understood Brown and sought to make the decision meaningful in their own lives. The contributors illuminate the breadth of developments that led to Brown, from the parallel struggles for social justice among African Americans in the South and Mexican, Asian, and Native Americans in the West during the late nineteenth century to the political and legal strategies implemented by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (naacp) in the twentieth century. Describing the decision’s impact on local communities, essayists explore the conflict among African Americans over the implementation of Brown in Atlanta’s public schools as well as understandings of the ruling and its relevance among Puerto Rican migrants in New York City. Assessing the legacy of Brown today, contributors analyze its influence on contemporary law, African American thought, and educational opportunities for minority children. Contributors Tomiko Brown-Nagin Davison M. Douglas Raymond Gavins Laurie B. Green Christina Greene Blair L. M. Kelley Michael J. Klarman Peter F. Lau Madeleine E. Lopez Waldo E. Martin Jr. Vicki L. Ruiz Christopher Schmidt Larissa M. Smith Patricia Sullivan Kara Miles Turner Mark V. Tushnet |
brown v board of education judicial activism: The Myth of Judicial Activism Kermit Roosevelt, 2008-01-01 Constitutional scholar Kermit Roosevelt uses plain language and compelling examples to explain how the Constitution can be both a constant and an organic document, and takes a balanced look at controversial decisions through a compelling new lens of constitutional interpretation. |
brown v board of education judicial activism: Cosmic Constitutional Theory J. Harvie Wilkinson, 2012-03-12 What underlies this development? In this concise and highly engaging work, Federal Appeals Court Judge and noted author (From Brown to Bakke) J. Harvie Wilkinson argues that America's most brilliant legal minds have launched a set of cosmic constitutional theories that, for all their value, are undermining self-governance. |
brown v board of education judicial activism: Judicial Activism Christopher Wolfe, 1997 In this revised and updated edition of a classic text, one of America's leading constitutional theorists presents a brief but well-balanced history of judicial review and summarizes the arguments both for and against judicial activism within the context of American democracy. Christopher Wolfe demonstrates how modern courts have used their power to create new rights with fateful political consequences and he challenges popular opinions held by many contemporary legal scholars. This is important reading for anyone interested in the role of the judiciary within American politics. Praise for the first edition of Judicial Activism: This is a splendid contribution to the literature, integrating for the first time between two covers an extensive debate, honestly and dispassionately presented, on the role of courts in American policy. --Stanley C. Brubaker, Colgate University |
brown v board of education judicial activism: Scalia v. Epstein Antonin Scalia, Richard A. Epstein, 1985-01-01 With the appointment of William H. Rehnquist as Chief Justice of the United States and Antonin Scalia as associate justice, there is renewed interest in questions of judicial activism and the role of the courts in protecting personal and economic liberties. To further public discussion of these fundamental questions, the Cato Institute is pleased to present this debate between Judge Scalia and Richard A.Epstein, James Parker Hall Professor of Law at the University of Chicago and editor of the Journal of Legal Studies. These papers were originally delivered at the Cato Institute's conference Economic Liberties and the Judiciary on October 26,1984, and appeared in the Winter 1985 issue of the Cato Journal. |
brown v board of education judicial activism: Race, Labor, and Civil Rights Robert Samuel Smith, 2008-12 In 1966, thirteen black employees of the Duke Power Company's Dan River Plant in Draper, North Carolina, filed a lawsuit against the company challenging its requirement of a high school diploma or a passing grade on an intelligence test for internal transfer or promotion. In the groundbreaking decision Griggs v. Duke Power (1971), the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, finding such employment practices violated Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when they disparately affected minorities. In doing so, the court delivered a significant anti-employment discrimination verdict. Legal scholars rank Griggs v. Duke Power on par with Brown v. Board of Education (1954) in terms of its impact on eradicating race discrimination from American institutions. In Race, Labor, and Civil Rights, Robert Samuel Smith offers the first full-length historical examination of this important case and its connection to civil rights activism during the second half of the 1960s. Smith explores all aspects of Griggs, highlighting the sustained energy of the grassroots civil rights community and the critical importance of courtroom activism. Smith shows that after years of nonviolent, direct action protests, African Americans remained vigilant in the 1960s, heading back to the courts to reinvigorate the civil rights acts in an effort to remove the lingering institutional bias left from decades of overt racism. He asserts that alongside the more boisterous expressions of black radicalism of the late sixties, foot soldiers and local leaders of the civil rights community -- many of whom were working-class black southerners -- mustered ongoing legal efforts to mold Title 7 into meaningful law. Smith also highlights the persistent judicial activism of the NAACP-Legal Defense and Education Fund and the ascension of the second generation of civil rights attorneys. By exploring the virtually untold story of Griggs v. Duke Power, Smith's enlightening study connects the case and the campaign for equal employment opportunity to the broader civil rights movement and reveals the civil rights community's continued spirit of legal activism well into the 1970s. |
brown v board of education judicial activism: The Supreme Court and Constitutional Democracy John Agresto, 1984 Discusses the growth of the power of the Supreme Court and analyzes the separation of judicial and congressional functions. |
brown v board of education judicial activism: Radical Deprivation on Trial César Rodríguez-Garavito, Diana Rodríguez-Franco, 2015-10-22 Using a Colombian case study, this book assesses the potential for court rulings to enact real-life social change. |
brown v board of education judicial activism: From Jim Crow to Civil Rights Michael J. Klarman, 2004-02-05 A monumental investigation of the Supreme Court's rulings on race, From Jim Crow To Civil Rights spells out in compelling detail the political and social context within which the Supreme Court Justices operate and the consequences of their decisions for American race relations. In a highly provocative interpretation of the decision's connection to the civil rights movement, Klarman argues that Brown was more important for mobilizing southern white opposition to racial change than for encouraging direct-action protest. Brown unquestioningly had a significant impact--it brought race issues to public attention and it mobilized supporters of the ruling. It also, however, energized the opposition. In this authoritative account of constitutional law concerning race, Michael Klarman details, in the richest and most thorough discussion to date, how and whether Supreme Court decisions do, in fact, matter. |
brown v board of education judicial activism: All Deliberate Speed Charles J. Ogletree, 2004 A Harvard Law School professor examines the impact that Brown v. Board of Education has had on his family, citing historical figures, while revealing how the reforms promised by the case were systematically undermined. |
brown v board of education judicial activism: Democracy and Distrust John Hart Ely, 1981-08-15 This powerfully argued appraisal of judicial review may change the face of American law. Written for layman and scholar alike, the book addresses one of the most important issues facing Americans today: within what guidelines shall the Supreme Court apply the strictures of the Constitution to the complexities of modern life? Until now legal experts have proposed two basic approaches to the Constitution. The first, “interpretivism,” maintains that we should stick as closely as possible to what is explicit in the document itself. The second, predominant in recent academic theorizing, argues that the courts should be guided by what they see as the fundamental values of American society. John Hart Ely demonstrates that both of these approaches are inherently incomplete and inadequate. Democracy and Distrust sets forth a new and persuasive basis for determining the role of the Supreme Court today. Ely’s proposal is centered on the view that the Court should devote itself to assuring majority governance while protecting minority rights. “The Constitution,” he writes, “has proceeded from the sensible assumption that an effective majority will not unreasonably threaten its own rights, and has sought to assure that such a majority not systematically treat others less well than it treats itself. It has done so by structuring decision processes at all levels in an attempt to ensure, first, that everyone’s interests will be represented when decisions are made, and second, that the application of those decisions will not be manipulated so as to reintroduce in practice the sort of discrimination that is impermissible in theory.” Thus, Ely’s emphasis is on the procedural side of due process, on the preservation of governmental structure rather than on the recognition of elusive social values. At the same time, his approach is free of interpretivism’s rigidity because it is fully responsive to the changing wishes of a popular majority. Consequently, his book will have a profound impact on legal opinion at all levels—from experts in constitutional law, to lawyers with general practices, to concerned citizens watching the bewildering changes in American law. |
brown v board of education judicial activism: Complex Justice Joshua M. Dunn, 2012-09-01 In 1987 Judge Russell Clark mandated tax increases to help pay for improvements to the Kansas City, Missouri, School District in an effort to lure white students and quality teachers back to the inner-city district. Yet even after increasing employee salaries and constructing elaborate facilities at a cost of more than $2 billion, the district remained overwhelmingly segregated and student achievement remained far below national averages. Just eight years later the U.S. Supreme Court began reversing these initiatives, signifying a major retreat from Brown v. Board of Education. In Kansas City, African American families opposed to the district court's efforts organized a takeover of the school board and requested that the court case be closed. Joshua Dunn argues that Judge Clark's ruling was not the result of tyrannical judicial activism but was rather the logical outcome of previous contradictory Supreme Court doctrines. High Court decisions, Dunn explains, necessarily limit the policy choices available to lower court judges, introducing complications the Supreme Court would not anticipate. He demonstrates that the Kansas City case is a model lesson for the types of problems that develop for lower courts in any area in which the Supreme Court attempts to create significant change. Dunn's exploration of this landmark case deepens our understanding of when courts can and cannot successfully create and manage public policy. |
brown v board of education judicial activism: Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice Gary L. Anderson, Kathryn G. Herr, 2007-04-13 This is an important historical period in which to develop communication models aimed at creating opportunities for citizens to find a voice for new experiences and social concerns. Such basic social problems as inequality, poverty, and discrimination pose a constant challenge to policies that serve the health and income needs of children, families, people with disabilities, and the elderly. Important changes both in individual values and civic life are occurring in the United States and in many other nations. Recent trends such as the globalization of commerce and consumer values, the speed and personalization of communication technologies, and an economic realignment of industrial and information-based economies are often regarded as negative. Yet there are many signs - from the WTO experience in Seattle to the rise of global activism aimed at making biotechnology accountable - that new forms of citizenship, politics, and public engagement are emerging. The Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice presents a comprehensive overview of the field with topics of varying dimensions, breadth, and length. This three-volume Encyclopedia is designed for readers to understand the topics, concepts, and ideas that motivate and shape the fields of activism, civil engagement, and social justice and includes biographies of the major thinkers and leaders who have influenced and continue to influence the study of activism. Key Features Offers multidisciplinary perspectives with contributions from the fields of education, communication studies, political science, leadership studies, social work, social welfare, environmental studies, health care, social psychology, and sociology Provides an easily recognizable approach to topics, ideas, persons, and concepts based on alphabetical and biographical listings in civil engagement, social justice, and activism Addresses both small-scale social justice concepts and more large-scale issues Includes biography pieces indicating the concepts, ideas, or legacies of individuals and groups who have influenced current practice and thinking such as John Stuart Mill, Rachel Carson, Mother Jones, Martin Luther King, Jr., Karl Marx, Mohandas Gandhi, Nelson and Winnie Mandela, Dorothy Day, and Thomas Merton |
brown v board of education judicial activism: Great Cases in Constitutional Law Robert P. George, 2016-03-04 Slavery, segregation, abortion, workers' rights, the power of the courts. These issues have been at the heart of the greatest constitutional controversies in American history. And in this concise and thought-provoking volume, some of today's most distinguished legal scholars and commentators explain for a general audience how five landmark Supreme Court cases centered on those controversies shaped the country's destiny and continue to affect us even now. The book is a profound exploration of the Supreme Court's importance to America's social and political life. It is also, as many of the contributors show, an intriguing reflection of what some have seen as an important trend in legal scholarship away from an uncritical belief in the essentially benign nature of judicial power. Robert George opens with an illuminating survey of the themes that unite and divide the five cases. Other contributors then examine each case in detail through a lively commentary-and-response format. Mark Tushnet and Jeremy Waldron exchange views on Marbury v. Madison, the pivotal 1803 case that established the power of the courts to invalidate legislation. Cass Sunstein and James McPherson discuss Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), the notorious case that confirmed the rights of slaveowners, declared that black people could not be American citizens, and is often seen as a cause of the Civil War. Hadley Arkes and Donald Drakeman explore the legacy of Lochner v. New York (1905), a case that ushered in decades of judicial hostility to social welfare laws. Earl Maltz and Walter Murphy assess Brown v. Topeka Board of Education (1954), the famous case that ended racial segregation in public schools. Finally, Jean Bethke Elshtain and George Will tackle Roe v. Wade (1973), still a flashpoint a quarter of a century later in the debate over abortion. While some of the contributors show sympathy for strong judicial interventions on social issues, many across the ideological spectrum are sharply critical of judicial activism. A compelling introduction to the greatest cases in U.S. constitutional law, this is also an enlightening glimpse of the state of the art in American legal scholarship. |
brown v board of education judicial activism: Democracy and Equality Geoffrey R. Stone, David A. Strauss, 2020 Brown v. Board of Education (1954) -- Mapp v. Ohio (1961) -- Engel v. Vitale (1962) -- Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) -- New York Times v. Sullivan (1964) -- Reynolds v. Sims (1964) -- Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) -- Miranda v. Arizona (1966) -- Loving v. Virginia (1967) -- Katz v. United States (1967) -- Shapiro v. Thompson (1968) -- Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969). |
brown v board of education judicial activism: The Cycles of Constitutional Time J. M. Balkin, 2020 The Cycles of Constitutional Time shows where American democracy has been and projects where it is going. Jack Balkin explains why our politics seems so dysfunctional and why fights over the courts seem so bitter and unhinged. He portrays our present troubles in terms of longer, constitutional trends. In doing so, he also offers a message of hope for the future. The same trends that put us in this predicament are slowly changing. Our political system can get better if Americans mobilize to change it. |
brown v board of education judicial activism: Teaching with Documents United States. National Archives and Records Administration, 1989 Guide for social studies teachers in using primary sources, particularly those available from the National Archives, to teach history. |
brown v board of education judicial activism: The Supreme Court and the Idea of Progress Alexander M. Bickel, 1978-01-01 |
brown v board of education judicial activism: Real Federalism Michael S. Greve, 1999 Real federalism is a federalism that promotes citizen choice and competition among the states |
brown v board of education judicial activism: The Idea of Human Rights Michael J. Perry, 1998 Inspired by a 1988 trip to El Salvador, Michael J. Perry's new book is a personal and scholarly exploration of the idea of human rights. Perry is one of our nation's leading authorities on the relation of morality, including religious morality, to politics and law. He seeks, in this book, to disentangle the complex idea of human rights by way of four probing and interrelated essays.The book will appeal to students of many disciplines, including (but not limited to) law, philosophy, religion, and politics. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved. |
brown v board of education judicial activism: The Federal Courts Richard A. Posner, 1999-09-15 Drawing on economic and political theory, legal analysis, and his own extensive judicial experience, Posner sketches the history of the federal courts, describes the contemporary institution, appraises concerns that have been expressed with their performance, and presents a variety of proposals for both short-term and fundamental reform. |
brown v board of education judicial activism: Measuring Judicial Activism Stefanie Lindqquist, Frank Cross, 2009-04-23 'Measuring Judicial Activism' supplies empirical analysis to the widely discussed concept of judicial activism at the United States Supreme Court. The book seeks to move beyond more subjective debates by conceptualizing activism in non-ideological terms. |
brown v board of education judicial activism: A People's History of the Supreme Court Peter Irons, 2006-07-25 A comprehensive history of the people and cases that have changed history, this is the definitive account of the nation's highest court featuring a forward by Howard Zinn Recent changes in the Supreme Court have placed the venerable institution at the forefront of current affairs, making this comprehensive and engaging work as timely as ever. In the tradition of Howard Zinn's classic A People's History of the United States, Peter Irons chronicles the decisions that have influenced virtually every aspect of our society, from the debates over judicial power to controversial rulings in the past regarding slavery, racial segregation, and abortion, as well as more current cases about school prayer, the Bush/Gore election results, and enemy combatants. To understand key issues facing the supreme court and the current battle for the court's ideological makeup, there is no better guide than Peter Irons. This revised and updated edition includes a foreword by Howard Zinn. A sophisticated narrative history of the Supreme Court . . . [Irons] breathes abundant life into old documents and reminds readers that today's fiercest arguments about rights are the continuation of the endless American conversation. -Publisher's Weekly (starred review) |
brown v board of education judicial activism: The Nature of the Judicial Process Benjamin Nathan Cardozo, 1921 In this famous treatise, a Supreme Court Justice describes the conscious and unconscious processes by which a judge decides a case. He discusses the sources of information to which he appeals for guidance and analyzes the contribution that considerations of precedent, logical consistency, custom, social welfare, and standards of justice and morals have in shaping his decisions. |
brown v board of education judicial activism: Keeping Faith with the Constitution Goodwin Liu, Pamela S. Karlan, Christopher H. Schroeder, 2010-08-05 Chief Justice John Marshall argued that a constitution requires that only its great outlines should be marked [and] its important objects designated. Ours is intended to endure for ages to come, and consequently, to be adapted to the various crises of human affairs. In recent years, Marshall's great truths have been challenged by proponents of originalism and strict construction. Such legal thinkers as Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia argue that the Constitution must be construed and applied as it was when the Framers wrote it. In Keeping Faith with the Constitution, three legal authorities make the case for Marshall's vision. They describe their approach as constitutional fidelity--not to how the Framers would have applied the Constitution, but to the text and principles of the Constitution itself. The original understanding of the text is one source of interpretation, but not the only one; to preserve the meaning and authority of the document, to keep it vital, applications of the Constitution must be shaped by precedent, historical experience, practical consequence, and societal change. The authors range across the history of constitutional interpretation to show how this approach has been the source of our greatest advances, from Brown v. Board of Education to the New Deal, from the Miranda decision to the expansion of women's rights. They delve into the complexities of voting rights, the malapportionment of legislative districts, speech freedoms, civil liberties and the War on Terror, and the evolution of checks and balances. The Constitution's framers could never have imagined DNA, global warming, or even women's equality. Yet these and many more realities shape our lives and outlook. Our Constitution will remain vital into our changing future, the authors write, if judges remain true to this rich tradition of adaptation and fidelity. |
brown v board of education judicial activism: The Hollow Hope Gerald N. Rosenberg, 2008-09-15 In follow-up studies, dozens of reviews, and even a book of essays evaluating his conclusions, Gerald Rosenberg’s critics—not to mention his supporters—have spent nearly two decades debating the arguments he first put forward in The Hollow Hope. With this substantially expanded second edition of his landmark work, Rosenberg himself steps back into the fray, responding to criticism and adding chapters on the same-sex marriage battle that ask anew whether courts can spur political and social reform. Finding that the answer is still a resounding no, Rosenberg reaffirms his powerful contention that it’s nearly impossible to generate significant reforms through litigation. The reason? American courts are ineffective and relatively weak—far from the uniquely powerful sources for change they’re often portrayed as. Rosenberg supports this claim by documenting the direct and secondary effects of key court decisions—particularly Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade. He reveals, for example, that Congress, the White House, and a determined civil rights movement did far more than Brown to advance desegregation, while pro-choice activists invested too much in Roe at the expense of political mobilization. Further illuminating these cases, as well as the ongoing fight for same-sex marriage rights, Rosenberg also marshals impressive evidence to overturn the common assumption that even unsuccessful litigation can advance a cause by raising its profile. Directly addressing its critics in a new conclusion, The Hollow Hope, Second Edition promises to reignite for a new generation the national debate it sparked seventeen years ago. |
brown v board of education judicial activism: Judicial Activism Sterling Harwood, 1996 This study explores the various arguments in favor and against activism offered in leading theories, including treatment of the democratic framework of courts, of the importance of predecent or stare decisis in judicial decision, and of the justification of activism by procedural due process. Reconsidering these same criticisms passivists make about activism, Harwood builds a tightly-argued case in favor of activism. |
brown v board of education judicial activism: The Constrained Court Michael A. Bailey, Forrest Maltzman, 2011-08-22 How do Supreme Court justices decide their cases? Do they follow their policy preferences? Or are they constrained by the law and by other political actors? The Constrained Court combines new theoretical insights and extensive data analysis to show that law and politics together shape the behavior of justices on the Supreme Court. Michael Bailey and Forrest Maltzman show how two types of constraints have influenced the decision making of the modern Court. First, Bailey and Maltzman document that important legal doctrines, such as respect for precedents, have influenced every justice since 1950. The authors find considerable variation in how these doctrines affect each justice, variation due in part to the differing experiences justices have brought to the bench. Second, Bailey and Maltzman show that justices are constrained by political factors. Justices are not isolated from what happens in the legislative and executive branches, and instead respond in predictable ways to changes in the preferences of Congress and the president. The Constrained Court shatters the myth that justices are unconstrained actors who pursue their personal policy preferences at all costs. By showing how law and politics interact in the construction of American law, this book sheds new light on the unique role that the Supreme Court plays in the constitutional order. |
brown v board of education judicial activism: Forbidden Grounds Richard A. Epstein, 1992 This controversial book presents a powerful argument for the repeal of anti-discrimination laws within the workplace. These laws--frequently justified as a means to protect individuals from race, sex, age, and disability discrimination--have been widely accepted by liberals and conservatives alike since the passing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and are today deeply ingrained in our legal culture. Richard Epstein demonstrates that these laws set one group against another, impose limits on freedom of choice, undermine standards of merit and achievement, unleash bureaucratic excesses, mandate inefficient employment practices, and cause far more invidious discrimination than they prevent. Epstein urges a return to the common law principles of individual autonomy that permit all persons to improve their position through trade, contract, and bargain, free of government constraint. He advances both theoretical and empirical arguments to show that competitive markets outperform the current system of centralized control over labor markets. Forbidden Grounds has a broad philosophical, economic, and historical sweep. Epstein offers novel explanations for the rational use of discrimination, and he tests his theory against a historical backdrop that runs from the early Supreme Court decisions, such as Plessy v. Ferguson which legitimated Jim Crow, through the current controversies over race-norming and the 1991 Civil Rights Act. His discussion of sex discrimination contains a detailed examination of the laws on occupational qualifications, pensions, pregnancy, and sexual harassment. He also explains how the case for affirmative action is strengthened by the repeal of employment discrimination laws. He concludes the book by looking at the recent controversies regarding age and disability discrimination. Forbidden Grounds will capture the attention of lawyers, social scientists, policymakers, and employers, as well as all persons interested in the administration of this major |
brown v board of education judicial activism: Brown v. Board of Education and the Civil Rights Movement Michael J. Klarman, 2007-07-31 A splendid account of the Supreme Court's rulings on race in the first half of the twentieth century, From Jim Crow To Civil Rights earned rave reviews and won the Bancroft Prize for History in 2005. Now, in this marvelously abridged, paperback edition, Michael J. Klarman has compressed his acclaimed study into tight focus around one major case--Brown v. Board of Education--making the path-breaking arguments of his original work accessible to a broader audience of general readers and students. In this revised and condensed edition, Klarman illuminates the impact of the momentous Brown v. Board of Education ruling. He offers a richer, more complex understanding of this pivotal decision, going behind the scenes to examine the justices' deliberations and reconstruct why they found the case so difficult to decide. He recaps his famous backlash thesis, arguing that Brown was more important for mobilizing southern white opposition to change than for encouraging civil rights protest, and that it was only the resulting violence that transformed northern opinion and led to the landmark legislation of the 1960s. Klarman also sheds light on broader questions such as how judges decide cases; how much they are influenced by legal, political, and personal considerations; the relationship between Supreme Court decisions and social change; and finally, how much Court decisions simply reflect societal values and how much they shape those values. Brown v. Board of Education was one of the most important decisions in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court. Klarman's brilliant analysis of this landmark case illuminates the course of American race relations as it highlights the relationship between law and social reform. Acclaim for From Jim Crow to Civil Rights: A major achievement. It bestows upon its fortunate readers prodigious research, nuanced judgment, and intellectual independence. --Randall Kennedy, The New Republic Magisterial. --The New York Review of Books A sweeping, erudite, and powerfully argued book...unfailingly interesting. --Wilson Quarterly |
brown v board of education judicial activism: Justice Deferred Orville Vernon Burton, Armand Derfner, 2021-05-04 In the first comprehensive accounting of the U.S. Supreme CourtÕs race-related jurisprudence, a distinguished historian and renowned civil rights lawyer scrutinize a legacy too often blighted by racial injustice. The Supreme Court is usually seen as protector of our liberties: it ended segregation, was a guarantor of fair trials, and safeguarded free speech and the vote. But this narrative derives mostly from a short period, from the 1930s to the early 1970s. Before then, the Court spent a century largely ignoring or suppressing basic rights, while the fifty years since 1970 have witnessed a mostly accelerating retreat from racial justice. From the Cherokee Trail of Tears to Brown v. Board of Education to the dismantling of the Voting Rights Act, historian Orville Vernon Burton and civil rights lawyer Armand Derfner shine a powerful light on the CourtÕs race recordÑa legacy at times uplifting, but more often distressing and sometimes disgraceful. For nearly a century, the Court ensured that the nineteenth-century Reconstruction amendments would not truly free and enfranchise African Americans. And the twenty-first century has seen a steady erosion of commitments to enforcing hard-won rights. Justice Deferred is the first book that comprehensively charts the CourtÕs race jurisprudence. Addressing nearly two hundred cases involving AmericaÕs racial minorities, the authors probe the parties involved, the justicesÕ reasoning, and the impact of individual rulings. We learn of heroes such as Thurgood Marshall; villains, including Roger Taney; and enigmas like Oliver Wendell Holmes and Hugo Black. Much of the fragility of civil rights in America is due to the Supreme Court, but as this sweeping history also reminds us, the justices still have the power to make good on the countryÕs promise of equal rights for all. |
brown v board of education judicial activism: The Essential Scalia Antonin Scalia, 2020-09-15 Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in his own words: the definitive collection of his opinions, speeches, and articles on the most essential and vexing legal questions, with an intimate foreword by Justice Elena Kagan “[Scalia’s writings] are as readable today as they were when they first appeared. . . . Especially illuminating to anyone who wants to unlock the mystery of why Ginsburg admired Scalia—or who wants to get a sense of where the Supreme Court may be headed.”—The Wall Street Journal A justice on the United States Supreme Court for three decades, Antonin Scalia transformed the way that judges, lawyers, and citizens think about the law. The Essential Scalia presents Justice Scalia on his own terms, allowing readers to understand the reasoning and insights that made him one of the most consequential jurists in American history. Known for his forceful intellect and remarkable wit, Scalia mastered the art of writing in a way that both educated and entertained. This comprehensive collection draws from the best of Scalia’s opinions, essays, speeches, and testimony to paint a complete and nuanced portrait of his jurisprudence. This compendium addresses the hot-button issues of the times, from abortion and the right to bear arms to marriage, free speech, religious liberty, and so much more. It also presents the justice’s wise insights on perennial debates over the structure of government created by our Constitution and the proper methods for interpreting our laws. Brilliant and passionately argued, The Essential Scalia is an indispensable resource for anyone who wants to understand our Constitution, the American legal system, and one of our nation’s most influential and highly regarded jurists and thinkers. |
brown v board of education judicial activism: Nixon's Court Kevin J. McMahon, 2011-09-19 Most analysts have deemed Richard Nixon’s challenge to the judicial liberalism of the Warren Supreme Court a failure—“a counterrevolution that wasn’t.” Nixon’s Court offers an alternative assessment. Kevin J. McMahon reveals a Nixon whose public rhetoric was more conservative than his administration’s actions and whose policy towards the Court was more subtle than previously recognized. Viewing Nixon’s judicial strategy as part political and part legal, McMahon argues that Nixon succeeded substantially on both counts. Many of the issues dear to social conservatives, such as abortion and school prayer, were not nearly as important to Nixon. Consequently, his nominations for the Supreme Court were chosen primarily to advance his “law and order” and school desegregation agendas—agendas the Court eventually endorsed. But there were also political motivations to Nixon’s approach: he wanted his judicial policy to be conservative enough to attract white southerners and northern white ethnics disgruntled with the Democratic party but not so conservative as to drive away moderates in his own party. In essence, then, he used his criticisms of the Court to speak to members of his “Silent Majority” in hopes of disrupting the long-dominant New Deal Democratic coalition. For McMahon, Nixon’s judicial strategy succeeded not only in shaping the course of constitutional law in the areas he most desired but also in laying the foundation of an electoral alliance that would dominate presidential politics for a generation. |
brown v board of education judicial activism: The Oxford Handbook of U.S. Women's Social Movement Activism Holly J. McCammon, Verta A. Taylor, Jo Reger, Rachel L. Einwohner, 2017 The Oxford Handbook of U.S. Women's Social Movement Activism provides a comprehensive examination of scholarly research and knowledge on a variety of aspects of women's collective activism in the United States, tracing both continuities and critical changes over time. |
brown v board of education judicial activism: The Warren Court and the Pursuit of Justice Morton J. Horwitz, 1999-04-30 A study of the Supreme Court under the leadership of Chief Justice Earl Warren, from 1953 to 1969, discussing the impact of the liberal court's civil rights and civil liberties decisions on American constitutional law. |
brown v board of education judicial activism: Spurious Interpretation Roscoe Pound, 1907 |
brown v board of education judicial activism: Supreme Inequality Adam Cohen, 2021-02-23 “With Supreme Inequality, Adam Cohen has built, brick by brick, an airtight case against the Supreme Court of the last half-century...Cohen’s book is a closing statement in the case against an institution tasked with protecting the vulnerable, which has emboldened the rich and powerful instead.” —Dahlia Lithwick, senior editor, Slate A revelatory examination of the conservative direction of the Supreme Court over the last fifty years. In Supreme Inequality, bestselling author Adam Cohen surveys the most significant Supreme Court rulings since the Nixon era and exposes how, contrary to what Americans like to believe, the Supreme Court does little to protect the rights of the poor and disadvantaged; in fact, it has not been on their side for fifty years. Cohen proves beyond doubt that the modern Court has been one of the leading forces behind the nation’s soaring level of economic inequality, and that an institution revered as a source of fairness has been systematically making America less fair. A triumph of American legal, political, and social history, Supreme Inequality holds to account the highest court in the land and shows how much damage it has done to America’s ideals of equality, democracy, and justice for all. |
brown v board of education judicial activism: The Supreme Court on Trial Charles S. Hyneman, |
brown v board of education judicial activism: David's Hammer Clint Bolick, 2007 Judicial activism is condemned by both right and left, for good reason: lawless courts are a threat to republican government. But challenging conventional wisdom, constitutional litigator Clint Bolick argues in Davids Hammer that far worse is a judiciary that allows the other branches of government to run roughshod over precious liberties. That, Bolick demonstrates, is exactly the role the framers intended the courts to play, envisioning a judiciary deferential to proper democratic governance but bold in defense of freedom. But the historical record is painfully uneven. During the Warren era. |
brown v board of education judicial activism: Rehabilitating Lochner David E. Bernstein, 2011-05-15 In this timely reevaluation of an infamous Supreme Court decision, David E. Bernstein provides a compelling survey of the history and background of Lochner v. New York. This 1905 decision invalidated state laws limiting work hours and became the leading case contending that novel economic regulations were unconstitutional. Sure to be controversial, Rehabilitating Lochner argues that the decision was well grounded in precedent—and that modern constitutional jurisprudence owes at least as much to the limited-government ideas of Lochner proponents as to the more expansive vision of its Progressive opponents. Tracing the influence of this decision through subsequent battles over segregation laws, sex discrimination, civil liberties, and more, Rehabilitating Lochner argues not only that the court acted reasonably in Lochner, but that Lochner and like-minded cases have been widely misunderstood and unfairly maligned ever since. |
Brown University
Brown is a leading research university, home to world-renowned faculty and also an innovative educational institution where the curiosity, creativity and intellectual joy of students drives …
About Brown - Brown University
Founded in 1764, Brown is a leading nonprofit research university, home to world-renowned faculty, and also an innovative educational institution where the curiosity, creativity and …
Academics - Brown University
Brown offers more than 80 programs, what some colleges call majors. You'll sample courses in a wide range of subjects before immersing yourself in one of these focused areas.
Admission and Aid - Brown University
Brown is renowned for its distinctive undergraduate experience rooted in its flexible yet rigorous Open Curriculum. Our campus is also home to the Warren Alpert Medical School and a wide …
Undergraduate Admission | Brown University
At Brown, we invite you to develop your own personalized course of study. You’ll sample rigorous courses in a wide range of subjects before immersing yourself in one of 80+ academic …
Undergraduate Education - Brown University
Brown has earned a global reputation for its innovative undergraduate educational experience, rooted in its flexible yet academically rigorous Open Curriculum. Probe theoretical physics with …
Graduate and Professional | Brown University
With innovative, student-centered academic training and a diverse and collaborative culture, Brown prepares graduate students to become leaders in their fields inside and outside of the …
Applying to Brown | Undergraduate Admission | Brown University
If you are drawn to Brown’s special blend of challenging academics and engaging culture, we strongly encourage you to apply. We look forward to getting to know you. Learn more about …
MD 2025 Match List | The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown …
The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University: Internal Medicine: Ty Agaisse: Rhode Island Hospital: The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University: Orthopedic Surgery: …
Schools and Colleges - Brown University
Brown has earned a global reputation for its innovative undergraduate educational experience, based in the College and rooted in its flexible yet academically rigorous Open Curriculum.
Brown University
Brown is a leading research university, home to world-renowned faculty and also an innovative educational institution where the curiosity, creativity and intellectual joy of students drives …
About Brown - Brown University
Founded in 1764, Brown is a leading nonprofit research university, home to world-renowned faculty, and also an innovative educational institution where the curiosity, creativity and …
Academics - Brown University
Brown offers more than 80 programs, what some colleges call majors. You'll sample courses in a wide range of subjects before immersing yourself in one of these focused areas.
Admission and Aid - Brown University
Brown is renowned for its distinctive undergraduate experience rooted in its flexible yet rigorous Open Curriculum. Our campus is also home to the Warren Alpert Medical School and a wide …
Undergraduate Admission | Brown University
At Brown, we invite you to develop your own personalized course of study. You’ll sample rigorous courses in a wide range of subjects before immersing yourself in one of 80+ academic …
Undergraduate Education - Brown University
Brown has earned a global reputation for its innovative undergraduate educational experience, rooted in its flexible yet academically rigorous Open Curriculum. Probe theoretical physics with …
Graduate and Professional | Brown University
With innovative, student-centered academic training and a diverse and collaborative culture, Brown prepares graduate students to become leaders in their fields inside and outside of the …
Applying to Brown | Undergraduate Admission | Brown University
If you are drawn to Brown’s special blend of challenging academics and engaging culture, we strongly encourage you to apply. We look forward to getting to know you. Learn more about the …
MD 2025 Match List | The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown …
The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University: Internal Medicine: Ty Agaisse: Rhode Island Hospital: The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University: Orthopedic Surgery: …
Schools and Colleges - Brown University
Brown has earned a global reputation for its innovative undergraduate educational experience, based in the College and rooted in its flexible yet academically rigorous Open Curriculum.