The Myth of the Imperial Judiciary

The Myth of the Imperial Judiciary PDF Author: Mark Kozlowski
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 0814747957
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 309

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Book Description
Featuring a foreword by Anthony Lewis, this book evaluates the role of the court system in our democracy and considers the claims that it has become too powerful.

The Myth of the Imperial Judiciary

The Myth of the Imperial Judiciary PDF Author: Mark Kozlowski
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 0814747957
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 309

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Book Description
Featuring a foreword by Anthony Lewis, this book evaluates the role of the court system in our democracy and considers the claims that it has become too powerful.

An Imperial Judiciary

An Imperial Judiciary PDF Author: Abram Chayes
Publisher: American Enterprise Institute Press
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 52

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Book Description


The Myth of the Imperial Judiciary

The Myth of the Imperial Judiciary PDF Author: Mark Kozlowski
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 0814749291
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 293

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Book Description
Few institutions have become as ferociously fought over in democratic politics as the courts. While political criticism of judges in this country goes back to its inception, today’s intensely ideological assault is nearly unprecedented. Spend any amount of time among the writings of contemporary right-wing critics of judicial power, and you are virtually assured of seeing repeated complaints about the “imperial judiciary.” American conservatives contend not only that judicial power has expanded dangerously in recent decades, but that liberal judges now willfully write their policy preferences into law. They raise alarms that American courts possess a degree of power incompatible with the functioning of a democratic polity. The Myth of the Imperial Judiciary explores the anti-judicial ideological trend of the American right, refuting these claims and taking a realistic look at the role of courts in our democracy to show that conservatives have a highly unrealistic conception of their power. Kozlowski first assesses the validity of the conservative view of the Founders’ intent, arguing that courts have played an assertive role in our politics since their establishment. He then considers contemporary judicial powers to show that conservatives have greatly overstated the extent to which the expansion of rights which has occurred has worked solely to the benefit of liberals. Kozlowski reveals the ways in which the claims of those on the right are often either unsupported or simply wrong. He concludes that American courts, far from imperiling our democracy or our moral fabric, stand as a bulwark against the abuse of legislative power, acting forcefully, as they have always done, to give meaning to constitutional promises.

Power and Constraint: The Accountable Presidency After 9/11

Power and Constraint: The Accountable Presidency After 9/11 PDF Author: Jack Goldsmith
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393083519
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
The surprising truth behind Barack Obama's decision to continue many of his predecessor's counterterrorism policies. Conventional wisdom holds that 9/11 sounded the death knell for presidential accountability. In fact, the opposite is true. The novel powers that our post-9/11 commanders in chief assumed—endless detentions, military commissions, state secrets, broad surveillance, and more—are the culmination of a two-century expansion of presidential authority. But these new powers have been met with thousands of barely visible legal and political constraints—enforced by congressional committees, government lawyers, courts, and the media—that have transformed our unprecedentedly powerful presidency into one that is also unprecedentedly accountable. These constraints are the key to understanding why Obama continued the Bush counterterrorism program, and in this light, the events of the last decade should be seen as a victory, not a failure, of American constitutional government. We have actually preserved the framers’ original idea of a balanced constitution, despite the vast increase in presidential power made necessary by this age of permanent emergency.

The Myth of Coequal Branches

The Myth of Coequal Branches PDF Author: David J. Siemers
Publisher: University of Missouri Press
ISBN: 0826274218
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
The idea that the three branches of U.S. government are equal in power is taught in classrooms, proclaimed by politicians, and referenced in the media. But, as David Siemers shows, that idea is a myth, neither intended by the Founders nor true in practice. Siemers explains how adherence to this myth normalizes a politics of gridlock, in which the action of any branch can be checked by the reaction of any other. The Founders, however, envisioned a separation of functions rather than a separation of powers. Siemers argues that this view needs to replace our current view, so that the goals set out in the Constitution’s Preamble may be better achieved.

Law as a Means to an End

Law as a Means to an End PDF Author: Brian Z. Tamanaha
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139459228
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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Book Description
The contemporary US legal culture is marked by ubiquitous battles among various groups attempting to seize control of the law and wield it against others in pursuit of their particular agenda. This battle takes place in administrative, legislative, and judicial arenas at both the state and federal levels. This book identifies the underlying source of these battles in the spread of the instrumental view of law - the idea that law is purely a means to an end - in a context of sharp disagreement over the social good. It traces the rise of the instrumental view of law in the course of the past two centuries, then demonstrates the pervasiveness of this view of law and its implications within the contemporary legal culture, and ends by showing the various ways in which seeing law in purely instrumental terms threatens to corrode the rule of law.

Against the Imperial Judiciary

Against the Imperial Judiciary PDF Author: Matthew J. Franck
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
"Franck's reexamination of the place of natural law in the early Supreme Court is fresh, illuminating, and long overdue. His scholarship is incisive and profound; and the exegeses of early Supreme Court opinions are often brilliant". -- Robert L. Clinton, author of Marbury v. Madison and Judicial Review.

The Imperial Presidency

The Imperial Presidency PDF Author: Arthur Meier Schlesinger
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 9780618420018
Category : Executive power
Languages : en
Pages : 630

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Government by Judiciary

Government by Judiciary PDF Author: Raoul Berger
Publisher: Studies in Jurisprudence and L
ISBN: 9780865971448
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
It is Berger's theory that the United States Supreme Court has embarked on "a continuing revision of the Constitution, under the guise of interpretation," thereby subverting America's democratic institutions and wreaking havoc upon Americans' social and political lives. Raoul Berger (1901-2000) was Charles Warren Senior Fellow in American Legal History, Harvard University. Please note: This title is available as an ebook for purchase on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iTunes.

Madison's Nightmare

Madison's Nightmare PDF Author: Peter M. Shane
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226749428
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
The George W. Bush administration’s ambitious—even breathtaking—claims of unilateral executive authority raised deep concerns among constitutional scholars, civil libertarians, and ordinary citizens alike. But Bush’s attempts to assert his power are only the culmination of a near-thirty-year assault on the basic checks and balances of the U.S. government—a battle waged by presidents of both parties, and one that, as Peter M. Shane warns in Madison’s Nightmare, threatens to utterly subvert the founders’ vision of representative government. Tracing this tendency back to the first Reagan administration, Shane shows how this era of "aggressive presidentialism" has seen presidents exerting ever more control over nearly every arena of policy, from military affairs and national security to domestic programs. Driven by political ambition and a growing culture of entitlement in the executive branch—and abetted by a complaisant Congress, riven by partisanship—this presidential aggrandizement has too often undermined wise policy making and led to shallow, ideological, and sometimes outright lawless decisions. The solution, Shane argues, will require a multipronged program of reform, including both specific changes in government practice and broader institutional changes aimed at supporting a renewed culture of government accountability. From the war on science to the mismanaged war on terror, Madison’s Nightmare outlines the disastrous consequences of the unchecked executive—and issues a stern wake-up call to all who care about the fate of our long democratic experiment.