The Warren Court and the Pursuit of Justice (Hill and Wang Critical Issues)

Description

The Hill and Wang Critical Issues Series: concise, affordable works on pivotal topics in American history, society, and politics.

The men who made up the Supreme Court when Earl Warren was Chief Justice (1953-69) changed America forever, and their decisions are still affecting constitutional law today. This overview of the Warren Court focuses on its landmark cases and enduring legacy.

Morton Horwitz s The Warren Court and the Pursuit of Justice is a book for the layperson outlining the changes the Warren Court created in America s civil liberties jurisprudence. While the book is in no sense a polemic, Horwitz assumes the reader shares his view that what the Warren Court wrought was progress, and he criticizes the justices only when they failed to reach liberal results. Justice Byron White would have winced at the way Horwitz characterizes decisions and justices as being simply "liberal" or "conservative," and one could argue that such a politicization is a problem rather than a virtue. But ACLU members and casual students of American legal history will find the book a quick read that touches upon all of the substantial decisions in a critical period of the Supreme Court s life. --Ted Frank