Table of Contents

Contributors vii Introduction Robert P. George 3 CHAPTER ONE Marbury v. Madison and the Theory of Judicial Supremacy Mark Tushnet 17 CHAPTER TWO "Despotism in Some Form": Marbury v. Madison Jeremy Waldron 55 CHAPTER THREE Dred Scott v. Sandford and Its Legacy Cass R. Sunstein 64 CHAPTER FOUR Politics and Judicial Responsibility: Dred Scott v. Sandford James M. McPherson 90 CHAPTER FIVE Lochner v. New York and the Cast of Our Laws Hadley Arkes 94 CHAPTER SIX The Substance of Process: Lochner v. New York Donald Drakeman 130 CHAPTER SEVEN Brown v. Board of Education and "Originalism" Earl Maltz 136 CHAPTER EIGHT Originalism-The Deceptive Evil: Brown v. Board of Education Walter F. Murphy 154 CHAPTER NINE Roe v. Wade: Speaking the Unspeakable Jean Bethke Elshtain 175 CHAPTER TEN Judicial Power and Abortion Politics: Roe v. Wade George Will 192 Index 201

Promotional Information

The United States Supreme Court is among the most important, but least understood, institutions in American life. Its decisions can profoundly affect, for good or ill, the well-being of our republic. Great Cases in Constitutional Law should be read because it will further the public's understanding of the Court's role. It is a book of many learned essays--provocative, illuminating, compelling. -- William J. Bennett In a country where nearly every major public issue is affected by Supreme Court opinions, the Great Cases are too important to remain the preserve of legal specialists. Robert George has performed a genuine service by bringing together some of the country's leading public intellectuals to make accessible to the general reader the debates and decisions that have shaped, and continue to shape, our democratic experiment. -- Mary Ann Glendon, Harvard University In this book, some of our most interesting contemporary constitutional thinkers attack those who look to the Supreme Court (or, for that matter, the Constitution) for ultimate resolution of our most basic political controversies--whether slavery in the past or affirmative action, abortion, or the right to die in the present. The essays are readily accessible to student and general reader alike and should provoke much-needed thought about the roles of the Constitution and the Court as its ostensible guardian. -- Sanford Levinson, University of Texas, Austin

About the Author

Robert P. George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University. He has served as a presidential appointee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and as a Judicial Fellow at the Supreme Court of the United States, where he received the Justice Tom C. Clark Award.

Reviews

"This book provides an excellent overview of landmark Supreme Court Cases, most of which impacted the court's power and direction..."--Booklist "A collection of scholarly but accessible essays... The principal essays range in style from professorial disputation to impassioned moral advocacy... [This] volume thoughtfully explains the views of those who advocate more of the original Constitution, and less of the Supreme Court, in American political life."--Publishers Weekly "All essays provide interesting insight into the concepts of judicial review and judicial activism... [An] excellent book... I highly recommend it to all."--Ruth Ann Wary, Law and Politics Book Review