Courting Disaster: The Supreme Court and the Unmaking of American Law FROM OUR EDITORS
The Supreme Court�s role in American political life did not begin with its decisive ruling in the 2000 presidential election. According to leading trial lawyer Martin Garbus, our highest court has been aggressively nullifying fundamental legislation for more than a generation. Passionate and closely argued, Courting Disaster will be appreciated by liberals, conservatives, and Court watchers alike.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
"Martin Garbus, one of the country's most celebrated trial lawyers and First Amendment attorneys, has been watching the Court closely for decades, and in Courting Disaster, he argues that it's time to acknowledge that the Court has been a political hotbed for years. 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 may remain on the books, laws concerning everything from abortion to the rights of suspects have been all but eviscerated." Courting Disaster offers a cogent analysis of the recent history of the Court, as well as the entire federal judiciary, and explains the complex workings of the different courts. Garbus examines and evaluates each of the nine current justices, and shows us, case by case, how critically important the vote of a single justice can be.
FROM THE CRITICS
The Los Angeles Times
Courting Disaster is a sprawling indictment that details case after case in which the court, often by a 5-4 majority, has diminished the rights of minorities and accused criminals, weakened the separation of church and state, and undercut the ability of the federal government to regulate business in the public interest. The book contains brief biographies of the justices, as well as some key appeals court judges who might one day join the Supremes; it also chronicles the highly organized efforts of the political right, beginning in the 1980s, to implant its own loyalists in the federal judiciary. All of which is quite laudable, particularly in a book aimed at a general, rather than scholarly, audience: The politics of an arcane-sounding decision can come alive if one knows a bit about the judges and how they got to the bench (which � surprise � was usually by courting politicians). — Alexander Keyssar
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. (Sept. 17) Forecast: Garbus's reputation should earn him reviews; his audience will consist primarily of the already converted. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Library Journal
Like Noonan (see accompanying review), 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 York Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
COURTING DISASTER is like a firebell in the night. The Supreme Court has the power to shape the national future; and Martin Garbus's lucid and perceptive analysis of cases and personalities tells us where the Court might go. No one will be able to say that we haven't been warned. — Arthur M. Schlesinger
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