Courting Disaster: The Supreme Court and the Unmaking of American Law
- Book Review,
by Martin Garbus
From Publishers Weekly
Garbus, a leading First Amendment lawyer and TV commentator, believes the U.S. Supreme Court, rather than protecting American democracy, poses a grave threat to it. He argues that the conservative bloc of the Court, driven by the ideological vision of William Rehnquist and intellectual vigor of Antonin Scalia, is "seizing power" and seeking to eviscerate individual freedoms most Americans assume to be their birthright. He fears even more that conservative Bush appointees would give the Rehnquist bloc the necessary votes to rewrite the Constitution and severely limit the right to abortion, significant First Amendment rights and protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. Garbus doesn't dumb down his subject; he discusses Supreme Court cases and the underlying judicial philosophy on the level of a law school class. The analysis of the Court's decisions on women's rights, race, affirmative action and religion will be familiar to sophisticated readers, but the discussion of the constitutional development of economic regulation will be new to most. Still, despite the density of the material, Garbus's writing is clear and comprehensible. Sympathetic that is, liberal readers will find his message chilling and will welcome his call for citizens to use their political influence to convince moderate senators, who will provide the pivotal votes on the next Supreme Court nominees, to insist on the appointment of more moderate justices. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Garbus sees the Rehnquist Court as undermining the ability of both the Federal judiciary and especially Congress to play a prominent role in the progressive evolution of the modern state. A trial attorney who has appeared frequently as a legal commentator on NBC and CNBC, Garbus decries the Court's recent tendency to overturn congressional legislation by declaring unconstitutional the provisions of various bipartisan acts across a wide range of social, economic, and political spectra. Carefully explicating the conflicting Court perceptions of federalism, he paints a vivid picture of internal conflict among the justices. For each major point of constitutional contention, he considers how and where the case originally arose, issues at trial, appellate review, arguments before the Court, the nine justices and where they stand, the majority opinion, and the minority dissent. The author also properly assesses the impact of the dissents, should these someday become the majority viewpoint of the narrowly divided Court. In the current context, the ability of the federal government to exercise its Article I powers is rigidly constrained. As Garbus shows, attempts by Congress to assert its power over gun control, as in the Brady Bill, or to help rape victims, as in the Women Against Violence Act, will be, and have been, struck down as unconstitutional when legislated under the pretext of interstate commerce. Garbus spends more time analyzing case law, while Noonan emphasizes the Court's resolution of constitutional disputes, so the two books complement each other nicely. Highly recommended.Philip Y. Blue, New York State Supreme Court Criminal Branch Law Lib., New YorkCopyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Garbus dispels the myth that the U.S. Supreme Court and its composition are apolitical and places the High Court within the context of partisan political strategizing. From the strong political shift to the Right during the Reagan administration, when the plan to stack the federal judiciary was initiated, through the Supreme Court ruling in 2000 that declared George Bush president, trumping the Florida Supreme Court, the American public has seen a level of political activism that most conservative judiciaries have rhetorically opposed for years. Garbus objectively addresses this turnaround, reviewing the irony of the mid-twentieth century, when the Left sought refuge from state's rights by seeking out the U.S. Supreme Court. Garbus concludes that the current court is primarily result-oriented, with justices who are relatively comfortable with exerting conservative influence for the foreseeable future. As the Supreme Court takes fewer cases, circuit court decisions gain in significance, heightening the importance of the conservative strategy to secure appointees at the circuit level. Garbus advocates a counterforce to function in the political and public legal arenas to ensure a more evenhanded judiciary. Vernon Ford
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
"This passionate and provocative analysis of the current Supreme Court is sure to stir a lively debate well beyond legal circles. Marty Garbus is a powerful advocate for his strong views."
--Tom Brokaw
"Mr. Garbus's brilliant book argues that the ideological lock put on our federal court system in the past thirty years by the Republican right wing constitutes a clear and present danger to the basic legal and moral assumptions of a modern democratic republic. He lays out the evidence, all the way up to the Supreme Court, and his case is sound. This work ought to be read by every lawyer, if not every voter, in the country."
--E. L. Doctorow
"A passionate critique of the Rehnquist Court by one of the leading First Amendment advocates in America. Even those who do not share all of Martin Garbus's conclusions will appreciate the vigor and importance of his arguments."
--Jeffrey Rosen, legal affairs editor, The New Republic, and author of The Unwanted Gaze: The Destruction of Privacy in America
"The current majority of the Supreme Court is embarked on a truly radical revision of many constitutional understandings that had been thought to be settled since the era of the Warren Court or even the New Deal. Martin Garbus offers lay readers an excellent entrypoint into understanding what is going on at the Court and its implications for the lives of the American public."
--Professor Sanford Levinson, W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood, Jr. Centennial Chair in Law and Professor of Government at University of Texas Law School
"Martin Garbus has written a forceful, highly readable assault on the current Court that some readers will find fascinating, others infuriating, but none boring."
Tinsley Yarbrough , author of The Rehnquist Court and the Constitution
"In the past decade a conservative federal judiciary and Supreme Court, eager to rein in traditional civil rights protections, have embarked on a torrent of right-wing judicial activism, amending our Constitution through unwise and unjust decisions. In this important book, noted First Amendment attorney Martin Garbus tells the story of this constitutional insurgency and what it means for the average American. This is a compelling portrait of judicial hubris and a revolution gone wrong."
--Jack M. Balkin, Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment, Yale Law School
"A wise and courageous lawyer, with long experience in our courts, turns his lucid mind and eloquent pen to our judicial system and comes up with a 'J'accuse' for our time. This informed and frightening assessment of our high court must be read by every American who loves liberty and fears tyranny. Our republic is in trouble and Martin Garbus tells us why."
--Alan Dershowitz
"Martin Garbus is one of America's most renowned defenders of the First Amendment. Courting Disaster, his lucid and spirited critique of the conservative judiciary of our time, is a powerful argument for the dangers that the judicial activism of the present Supreme Court poses to civil
liberties."
--Alan Brinkley, Allan Nevins Professor of History, Columbia University
"An ardent defender of our freedom, Martin Garbus reminds us that the Supreme Court directly affects the lives of all Americans. In the last half century, the Court has played a central role in the effort to make America a better and fairer land. In Courting Disaster, Garbus alerts us to what he sees as the current Court's undoing of much of that important work."
--Senator Edward M. Kennedy
"If you haven't read Courting Disaster, you may awaken one morning and ask, 'What happened to America?' This is a clear clarion cry for every American to act before our Constitutional way of life is all but a distant memory."
--Gerry Spence, trial lawyer and author of Give Me Liberty!
Book Description
A provocative look at the naked political agenda of today's Supreme Court, from one of America's foremost jurists.
In the fall of 2000, when the United States Supreme Court handed down a decision that effectively decided a Presidential election, the Court's role in political life suddenly was thrust onto center stage. But, as legendary attorney and activist Martin Garbus argues, the Court has been a hotbed of politics for years, and it's time we took off our blinders and stopped treating the justices as the protectors of objective truth.
For more than a generation, the Supreme Court has been quietly but aggressively rolling back legislation that has been fundamental to our justice system and economy since the days of Franklin Roosevelt. Although they remain on the books, laws concerning everything from abortion to the rights of suspects have been all but eviscerated. Most of the legal principles involved are subtle and technical, and often are lost on the general public. But in Courting Disaster Garbus brilliantly explicates the ways in which seemingly small decisions by the Court can preciptate radical change in American law, and then in American society.
Ultimately, Garbus issues a passionate, well-argued wake-up call to liberal forces, urging the restoration of the Court's bipartisanship and objectivity.
About the Author
Martin Garbus is one of the country's leading trial lawyers, appearing before the Supreme Court, teaching law, and arguing trials and speaking as a First Amendment expert throughout the country. He has represented high-profile clients from Lenny Bruce to Václav Havel. A legal commentator for NBC and CBS, he has written for The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and other publications. He is the author of three previous books and lives in New York City.
Buy from Amazon
Compare Prices
|
|
Home
