The Public Debate Over Controversial Supreme Court Decisions

"Focuses on forty controversial Supreme Court cases. Provides summary of each case, its importance, and the reason for its controversial nature as well as selections from primary sources that represent the public response to the case"--Provided by publisher.

Historically, U.S. citizens have accepted most Supreme Court decisions without protest, but there have also been rulings that have aroused public anger, condemnation and defiance. These public reactions and the debates they have inspired have helped shape the social and political character of the nation. The Public Debate Over Controversial Supreme Court Decisions explores public reaction to over forty of the most well known and contentious cases ruled upon by the Court. The renowned cases covered begin with those from early in U.S. history, such as McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) and the Dred Scott decision (1857), to recent cases that have fanned the flames of debate over current highly-charged issues such as abortion (Roe v. Wade, 1973) and homosexual rights (Lawrence v. Texas, 2003). The book presents information through a unique integration of essays and primary source documents that bring both context and a sense of immediacy to the cases discussed. Each case entry includes: An informative introductory essay that explains: The facts of the case; The Court's ruling and its importance; A brief overview of the scope and magnitude of public response, with narrative thread tying together primary sources. Primary source selections from a wide range of public responses, including: Newspapers and magazines; Public opinion polls; Letters written about the case and to the justices; Comments or speeches made by presidents, members of Congress, and other public figures. The Public Debate Over Controversial Supreme Court Decisions is designed to fit into high school social studies and college curriculums. Public libraries will want this resource in their collections for any patrons who want to learn about the importance of these controversial cases in their own lives as citizens.

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.

Since the Constitution's ratification, members of Congress, following Article V, have proposed approximately twelve thousand amendments, and states have filed several hundred petitions with Congress for the convening of a constitutional convention. Only twenty-seven amendments have been approved in 225 years. Why do members of Congress continue to introduce amendments at a pace of almost two hundred a year? This book is a demonstration of how social reformers and politicians have used the amendment process to achieve favorable political results even as their proposed amendments have failed to be adopted. For example, the ERA "failed" in the sense that it was never ratified, but the mobilization to ratify the ERA helped build the feminist movement (and also sparked a countermobilization). Similarly, the Supreme Court's ban on compulsory school prayer led to a barrage of proposed amendments to reverse the Court. They failed to achieve the requisite two-thirds support from Congress, but nevertheless had an impact on the political landscape. The definition of the relationship between Congress and the President in the conduct of foreign policy can also be traced directly to failed efforts to amend the Constitution during the Cold War. Roger Hartley examines familiar examples like the ERA, balanced budget amendment proposals, and pro-life attempts to overturn Roe v. Wade, but also takes the reader on a three-century tour of lesser-known amendments. He explains how often the mere threat of calling a constitutional convention (at which anything could happen) effected political change.

The author explores the interaction between the Constitution and religious practices in public life. School prayer, religion in prison, and same-sex marriages have created controversies challenging the Supreme Court and the nature of laws regarding religion. The author addresses such issues to trace the relationship between church and state.

The recent dramatic shift in makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court has led to great interest in the rulings and legal opinions of its justices. Now, CQ Press brings you a comprehensive volume that analyzes the lives and legal philosophies of all past and present justices of the Court. Biographical Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court includes signed essays profiling the men and women who have served and are serving on the U.S. Supreme Court. This one-of-a-kind reference includes not only important biographical information, but also in-depth details of the legal contributions made by the men and women of the nation's highest bench. Keeping up with the recent changes to the Court, this volume includes all current justices. New essays profile Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito. Justices are arranged in an easy-to-use alphabetical format. Each essay is prefaced with key biographical information for each justice such as: Birth and death dates Date of nomination to the Court The name of president who nominated the justice The date he or she was seated Date range of service on the Court Within each essay, written by a top legal expert, scholar, or journalist, Biographical Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court provides facts and context along with analysis of the opinions and legal philosophies for each justice. This new volume is an updated edition of The Supreme Court Justices: A Biographical Dictionary (1994). It will prove a valuable resource for academic, community college, law school, and public libraries.

“Highly illuminating ... for anyone interested in the Constitution, the Supreme Court, and the American democracy, lawyer and layperson alike." —The Los Angeles Review of Books In his major work, acclaimed historian and judicial authority Melvin Urofsky examines the great dissents throughout the Court’s long history. Constitutional dialogue is one of the ways in which we as a people reinvent and reinvigorate our democratic society. The Supreme Court has interpreted the meaning of the Constitution, acknowledged that the Court’s majority opinions have not always been right, and initiated a critical discourse about what a particular decision should mean before fashioning subsequent decisions—largely through the power of dissent. Urofsky shows how the practice grew slowly but steadily, beginning with the infamous and now overturned case of Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) during which Chief Justice Roger Taney’s opinion upheld slavery and ending with the present age of incivility, in which reasoned dialogue seems less and less possible. Dissent on the court and off, Urofsky argues in this major work, has been a crucial ingredient in keeping the Constitution alive and must continue to be so.

A concise and readable guide to the first--and still most important--case that tackled the constitutionality of prayer in public schools. The decision evoked an enormous outcry from a wide spectrum of society concerned about protecting religious practice in America and curbing an activist Supreme Court that many perceived to be too liberal and out-of-control.