Synopsis
Based on the author's extensive coverage of the Supreme Court (including personal interviews), it lifts the veil of secrecy surrounding the Court by showing who the justices are and how they make their decisions. Explores the gradual shift of the Court to conservative ideology. Highlights the antagonisms between liberals and the new conservative majority showing how Scalia, Kennedy, Souter and now Thomas have fundamentally altered the Court's philosophy. Major reversals and decisions are covered ranging from abortion and civil rights to the right to die and criminal rights. The future direction of the Court is also discussed.
Reviews
Savage delivers a chilling, precise account of the Supreme Court's rollback of constitutional rights. A Los Angeles Times reporter who has covered the Court since 1986, the author presents a detailed, anecdotal chronicle of cases, personalities and behind-the-scenes wrangling; charts the Court's rightward drift under Chief Justice William Rehnquist; documents the rearguard actions of staunch liberal justices Thurgood Marshall and William Brennan; and dispassionately reviews the Court's ruling on the death penalty, abortion, drug testing and other issues. He also recreates the battles over the nominations of Robert Bork, Anthony Kennedy, David Souter and Clarence Thomas. Generally restrained in his criticism, Savage faults the Rehnquist Court's "uncanny ability for misinterpreting federal legislaton." Readers interested in predicting how a specific justice is likely to vote on a particular issue will find this casebook useful. Photos. Author tour.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Los Angeles Times reporter Savage engrossingly chronicles a sea change in the nation's high court--its transformation, under Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, from guardian of an expansively interpreted Bill of Rights into a highly restrained and, toward government authority, profoundly deferential court. Savage tells a story much like an updated version of The Brethren, but without the gossipy flavor. The Burger Court depicted by Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong was dominated by liberal activist William Brennan and, like the Warren Court before it, read the Bill of Rights broadly and creatively to invalidate a wide range of statutes in the name of equity of civil liberties and human rights. By contrast, the Court that Savage describes has come increasingly under the control of Rehnquist and his narrow and literalist reading of the Constitution. Savage gives a term-by-term account, beginning with Rehnquist's elevation to the Chief Justiceship in 1986 and ending with the departure of the last Warren Court liberal, Thurgood Marshall, and the turbulent confirmation of his successor, Clarence Thomas. Along the way, the author offers anecdotal portraits of each justice, emphasizing the conservatives of the Reagan/Bush years who have transformed the Court--O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy, and Souter. Savage focuses on cases raising highly visible issues--abortion, the death penalty, employment discrimination, for example--to demonstrate the Court's evolving approach to Constitutional adjudication, but does not neglect more arcane cases. The consistent philosophical threads in the Rehnquist Court's approach, he explains, are its deference to legislative majorities and governmental authority, and its disinclination to uphold challenges to such authority. Savage concludes that ``to a remarkable degree, the new Court mirrors the affable but solidly conservative man who leads it.'' A thoughtful, well-researched look at the current pronounced conservatism of a most enigmatic and influential institution. (Eight pages of b&w photos--not seen.) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Savage, a Los Angeles Times reporter who covers the U.S. Supreme Court, provides an insightful analysis of the Court between 1986 and 1991. He emphasizes the transition from liberal to conservative civil rights decisions during Chief Justice William Rehnquist's first five terms. Savage examines the Justices' internal politics and their legal opinions to show how a conservative majority gained control of the Court , thereby changing the Court's direction in major cases such as criminal rights, the death penalty, affirmative action, and religious freedom. Savage argues the current Court reflects, to a large degree, Rehnquist's approach to legal issues. This excellent, understandable overview of the changes in the Supreme Court is highly recommended for legal collections.
- Steven Puro, St. Louis Univ.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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