May It Please the Court - 1993 First Edition

Hardcover in original gray paper-covered boards with black cloth spine, gilt lettering, and decorative gilt dots. Original photographic dust jacket, retaining the publisher's $30.00 price. Published in conjunction with the Earl Warren Bill of Rights Project and the Northwest Public Affairs Network. An important collection presenting transcripts of the oral arguments and questioning in 23 landmark United States Supreme Court cases, drawn from recordings made beginning in 1955. Edited by constitutional scholar and civil liberties attorney Peter Irons and Stephanie Guitton, the volume captures the exchanges between leading advocates and justices in cases including Gideon v. Wainwright, Miranda v. Arizona, Brown-era civil rights successor cases, Loving v. Virginia, Roe v. Wade, New York Times v. United States, United States v. Nixon, and Texas v. Johnson. Each case is accompanied by historical and legal background, with additional reference material on the justices. Dedicated to Justices William J. Brennan Jr. and Thurgood Marshall. Condition: Near Fine hardcover / Near Fine dust jacket. An attractive, well-preserved copy with clean boards, bright gilt spine lettering, and a firm, square appearance. Interior pages are clean and bright. Original dust jacket is complete and unclipped, showing only minor superficial handling wear and light surface rubbing. An appealing First Edition copy of an important documentary work on American constitutional law and Supreme Court history. Peter Irons (1940-2023) was an American constitutional scholar, political scientist, author, and civil liberties attorney. A professor at the University of California, San Diego, he was closely associated with the Earl Warren Bill of Rights Project and worked to make Supreme Court oral arguments more accessible to the public. His other books include The New Deal Lawyers, Justice at War, and The Courage of Their Convictions. Stephanie Guitton was a legal scholar and coeditor of this collection. The original jacket identifies her as having earned a law degree from the University of Poitiers in France and as a participant in the Jurisprudence and Social Policy Program at the University of California, Berkeley.…