Sherman Minton

Authors Gugin and St. Clair explore the forces and events that shaped Minton's political style and judicial character. Chief among the influences on Minton were his southern Indiana roots, his childhood adversity, his attraction to populism and its foremost proponent, William Jennings Bryan, and his involvement in the partisan politics of Indiana. Out of this mixture was born a political philosophy that was neither liberal nor conservative, but pragmatic. As both New Deal senator and Cold War justice Minton acted in harmony with his long-held views of democracy. From an early age Minton longed to be in public service. The road to this goal, however, as the authors chronicle, was marked with detours and bumps. But Minton, drawing upon the strength acquired during the difficulties of his youth, was doggedly determined. His fascinating journey, therefore, stands as an inspirational testimony to will and perseverance. Minton's life, too, is testimony to the value of wit and humor. While he was deeply committed to performing his public duties as conscientiously as possible, he nevertheless was ever ready with a quip or joke to deflate a contentious situation, disarm an opponent, or just brighten up someone's day. The author's capture Minton's humor, warmth, and grace through their use of the frequent and lively correspondence Minton carried on with such friends as President Truman, Hugo L. Black, William O. Douglas, Fred M. Vinson, Felix Frankfurter, Earl Warren, Carl A. Hatch, and Lewis B. Schwellenbach.

Perhaps the most overlooked aspect of Harry S. Truman’s presidency is his judicial legacy, with even the finest of Truman biographies neglecting to consider the influence he had on the Supreme Court. Yet, as Rawn James lays out in engaging detail, president Harry Truman successfully molded the high court into a judicial body that appeared to actively support his administration’s political agenda. In rulings that sparked controversy in their own time, the Supreme Court repeatedly upheld Truman’s most contentious policies, including actions to restrict free speech, expand civil rights, and manage labor union unrest. The Truman Court: Law and the Limits of Loyalty argues that the years between FDR’s death in 1945 and Chief Justice Earl Warren’s confirmation in 1953—the dawn of the Cold War—were, contrary to widespread belief, important years in Supreme Court history. Never before or since has a president so quickly and completely changed the ideological and temperamental composition of the Court. With remarkable swiftness and certainty, Truman constructed a Court on which he relied to lend constitutional credence to his political agenda.

On the way to offering a new analysis of the basis of the Supreme Court's iconic decision in Brown v. Board of Education, Jeffrey Hockett critiques an array of theories that have arisen to explain it and Supreme Court decision making generally. Drawing upon justices' books, articles, correspondence, memoranda, and draft opinions, A Storm over This Court demonstrates that the puzzle of Brown's basis cannot be explained by any one theory. Borrowing insights from numerous approaches to analyzing Supreme Court decision making, this study reveals the inaccuracy of the popular perception that most of the justices merely acted upon a shared, liberal preference for an egalitarian society when they held that racial segregation in public education violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. A majority of the justices were motivated, instead, by institutional considerations, including a recognition of the need to present a united front in such a controversial case, a sense that the Court had a significant role to play in international affairs during the Cold War, and a belief that the Court had an important mission to counter racial injustice in American politics. A Storm over This Court demonstrates that the infusion of justices' personal policy preferences into the abstract language of the Constitution is not the only alternative to an originalist approach to constitutional interpretation. Ultimately, Hockett concludes that the justices' decisions in Brown resist any single, elegant explanation. To fully explain this watershed decision--and, by implication, others--it is necessary to employ a range of approaches dictated by the case in question.

This work provides a unique overview for individuals seeking to understand the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It covers key concepts, events, laws and legal doctrines, court decisions, and litigators and litigants regarding the law of search and seizure.