A History of the Supreme Court
by Bernard Schwartz
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Book Summary Information
Author: Bernard SchwartzEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1995-02-23
ISBN: 0195093879
Number of pages: 480
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Book Reviews of A History of the Supreme Court
Book Review: Good concise view of the dynamics of Supreme Court history
Summary: 5 Stars
A number of aspects of this book make it very readable. Certainly, the four watershed cases, each presented with some detail and background, are good reading, and each highlights an important chapter in American history. The author' s critical opinions of the personalities and accomplishments of the Justices lend a sharp focus to each of the Courts. Then, the reasonable brevity of the book gives the reader a good opportunity to reflect over both the evolution of the Supreme Court and how it relates to the development of the United States as a whole.
Looking back over the history of the Supreme Court, it is clear, as the author notes, that the work of the Court is a dynamic process. A great deal has changed since the Constitution was first composed. The world has become considerably more crowded and complex, and anyone who has observed this change over time, from the original thirteen states on the edge of a largely unexplored and unknown continent to the urbanized and highly organized society with electronic technology, can appreciate the unavoidable growth of regulation and the increasing role of law. The Founders, of course, could never have anticipated such changes. What they did lay down was a basis of stability. The original Constitution contains a basis that goes as far as setting up a framework of checks and balances and providing a Bill of Rights. When the Founders departed from generalities, such as in assigning the authority to "coin money" with no apparent authority to print money, it soon became hopelessly out of date.
The watershed cases mark long histories of injustice that involve a great deal of struggle. The ruling in the Dred Scott case, in which it was decided that black slaves were not anything more than property, created an uproar that in large part was responsible for plunging the country into a civil war. In the aftermath of Reconstruction, after amendments were passed that henceforth allowed citizenship, the problem of inequality took a different turn toward the evils of segregation, and was not resolved for a long time afterward, not until 1953, when the Warren Court decided Brown v. Broad of Education. In a similar vein, the Lochner case showed how far the Court of the time was willing to use ideology, a theory of economics, in promoting the survival of the fittest. For a very long time, throughout the industrial revolution, the Court struck down statutes that sought to protect workers and children from unfair labor practices. It was not until 1937 that the tide was finally turned.
Summary of A History of the Supreme Court
When the first Supreme Court convened in 1790, it was so ill-esteemed that its justices frequently resigned in favor of other pursuits. John Rutledge stepped down as Associate Justice to become a state judge in South Carolina; John Jay resigned as Chief Justice to run for Governor of New York; and Alexander Hamilton declined to replace Jay, pursuing a private law practice instead. As Bernard Schwartz shows in this landmark history, the Supreme Court has indeed travelled a long and interesting journey to its current preeminent place in American life.In A History of the Supreme Court, Schwartz provides the finest, most comprehensive one-volume narrative ever published of our highest court. With impeccable scholarship and a clear, engaging style, he tells the story of the justices and their jurisprudence--and the influence the Court has had on American politics and society. With a keen ability to explain complex legal issues for the nonspecialist, he takes us through both the great and the undistinguished Courts of our nation's history. He provides insight into our foremost justices, such as John Marshall (who established judicial review in Marbury v. Madison, an outstanding display of political calculation as well as fine jurisprudence), Roger Taney (whose legacy has been overshadowed by Dred Scott v. Sanford), Oliver Wendell Holmes, Louis Brandeis, Benjamin Cardozo, and others. He draws on evidence such as personal letters and interviews to show how the court has worked, weaving narrative details into deft discussions of the developments in constitutional law. Schwartz also examines the operations of the court: until 1935, it met in a small room under the Senate--so cramped that the judges had to put on their robes in full view of the spectators. But when the new building was finally opened, one justice called it "almost bombastically pretentious," and another asked, "What are we supposed to do, ride in on nine elephants?" He includes fascinating asides, on the debate in the first Court, for instance, over the use of English-style wigs and gowns (the decision: gowns, no wigs); and on the day Oliver Wendell Holmes announced his resignation--the same day that Earl Warren, as a California District Attorney, argued his first case before the Court. The author brings the story right up to the present day, offering balanced analyses of the pivotal Warren Court and the Rehnquist Court through 1992 (including, of course, the arrival of Clarence Thomas).
In addition, he includes four special chapters on watershed cases: Dred Scott v. Sanford, Lochner v. New York, Brown v. Board of Education, and Roe v. Wade. Schwartz not only analyzes the impact of each of these epoch-making cases, he takes us behind the scenes, drawing on all available evidence to show how the justices debated the cases and how they settled on their opinions.
Bernard Schwartz is one of the most highly regarded scholars of the Supreme Court, author of dozens of books on the law, and winner of the American Bar Association's Silver Gavel Award. In this remarkable account, he provides the definitive one-volume account of our nation's highest court.
Bernard Schwartz's history treats the Court as "both a mirror and a motor--reflecting the development of the society which it serves and helping to move that society in the direction of the dominant jurisprudence of the day." Beginning with the 17th-century writings of Sir Edward Coke, which shaped much of the legal thinking of America's Founding Fathers, Schwartz considers each of the major eras of the Supreme Court's tenure, from its first term in 1790 (held in New York City) to the Rehnquist years. There are also four chapters that deal specifically with watershed cases: Dred Scott v. Sandford, Lochner v. New York, Brown v. Board of Education, and Roe v. Wade. Schwartz marshals a substantial amount of historical information to carry the story forward without getting stuck on minutiae.
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