Synopses & Reviews
The Decline and Fall of the Supreme Court examines the contemporary work of the U.S. Supreme Court and the advice and consent role of the Senate with regard to nominees to the Court. After presenting historical background on the intentions of the federalists and 20th-century jurisprudence, the work describes the baleful effects of the recent theory known as legal realism. The author examines the most dramatic of those effects—the polarized, polarizing, and partisan confirmation hearings with which the United States has become familiar—beginning with Abe Fortas and culminating with Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas. This study will be of interest to scholars and laypeople in American history, political science, and law.
Review
The book has a great deal of merit,The Annals of the American Academy
Synopsis
Examines the contemporary work of the U.S. Supreme Court and the advice and consent role of the Senate with regard to nominees to the Court.
About the Author
CHRISTOPHER C. FAILLE is a graduate of Marist College and the Western New England School of Law.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Triumph of Realism
What the Founders Wanted
What the New Deal Required
The Making and the Meaning of the Warren Court
Warren Court, Final Years
The Making of the Burger Court
The Unraveling of an Administration
The Meaning of the Burger Court
The Making of the Rehnquist Court
The Robert Bork Revue
Staring into the Abyss...
...and Stepping Over the Edge
The Meaning of the Rehnquist Court
Epilogue: The Clinton Presidency and the Electoral Arithmetic
Select Bibliography
Index