Synopses & Reviews
"A stimulating debate of a great case."
Library Journal
"Balkan offers his own assessment in a critical introduction and the iconic impact of Brown."
Black Issues Book Review
"Balkin persuasively argues that the courts play a vital role in tempering the nation's political and legal mechanisms."
Journal of the West
"Passionate, intelligent, accessible, and eloquent. If only the real court would follow suit."
Kirkus, Starred Review
"A remarkable collection of writings. The eminent scholars it features articulate with insight and passion a wide range of views. No other book better relates the Supreme Court's landmark decision of 1954 to the debates and anxieties of our own time."
Randall Kennedy, Harvard Law School
"A critical introduction to the original ruling."
ReferenceandResearch Book News
Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court's landmark 1954 decision ordering the desegregation of America's public schools, is perhaps the most famous case in American constitutional law. Criticized and even openly defied when first handed down, in half a century Brown has become a venerated symbol of equality and civil rights.
Its meaning, however, remains as contested as the case is celebrated. In the decades since the original decision, constitutional interpreters of all stripes have found within it different meanings. Both supporters and opponents of affirmative action have claimed the mantle of Brown, criticizing the other side for betraying its spirit. Meanwhile, the opinion itself has often been criticized as bland and uninspiring, carefully written to avoid controversy and maintain unanimity among the Justices.
As the 50th anniversary of Brown approaches, America's schools are increasingly divided by race and class. Liberals and conservatives alike harbor profound regrets about the development of race relations since Brown, while disagreeing heatedly about the proper role of the courts in promoting civil equality and civil rights.
In this volume, nine of America's top constitutional and civil rights experts have been challenged to rewrite the Brown decision as they would like it to have been written, incorporating what they now know about the subsequent history of the United States but making use of only those sources available at the time of the original decision. In addition, Jack Balkin gives a detailed introduction to the case, chronicling the history of the litigation in Brown, and explaining the current debates over its legacy.
Contributors include: Bruce Ackerman, Jack M Balkin, Derrick A. Bell, Drew S. Days, John Hart Ely, Catharine A. MacKinnon, Michael W. McConnell, Frank I Michelman, and Cass R. Sunstein.
Review
"Balkan offers his own assessment in a critical introduction and the iconic impact of Brown."-Black Issues Book Review,
Review
"In this thought-provoking volume, the academically distinguished 'justices' of the 'Balkin Court' offer competing thoughts about the role of the Supreme Court and the Constitution in overcoming racial discrimination. Complete with helpful introductory material, commentary on their opinions by each 'justice,' and the texts of the original Brown decisions, What Brown v. Board of Education Should Have Said is a valuable source of ideas, commentary, and insights into the challenges of racial discrimination, both historical and present."-Gerald Rosenberg,Northwestern University School of Law
Review
"This intriguing collection provides unique insights into the way today's constitutional theorists would go about deciding Brown v. Board of Education, and into contemporary constitutional theory more generally. It also illuminates Brown v. Board of Education itself, by bringing the insights of nearly fifty years of experience to bear on the problem the Court faced in 1954. Those interested in Brown and in constitutional theory will all benefit from thinking about what these authors have to say."-Mark Tushnet,Georgetown University Law Center
Review
"Balkin persuasively argues that the courts play a vital role in tempering the nation's political and legal mechanisms."-Journal of the West,
Review
"In this thought-provoking volume, the academically distinguished 'justices' of the 'Balkin Court' offer competing thoughts about the role of the Supreme Court and the Constitution in overcoming racial discrimination. Complete with helpful introductory material, commentary on their opinions by each 'justice,' and the texts of the original Brown decisions, What Brown v. Board of Education Should Have Said is a valuable source of ideas, commentary, and insights into the challenges of racial discrimination, both historical and present." - Gerald Rosenberg, Northwestern University School of Law
"In this thought-provoking volume, the academically distinguished 'justices' of the 'Balkin Court' offer competing thoughts about the role of the Supreme Court and the Constitution in overcoming racial discrimination. Complete with helpful introductory material, commentary on their opinions by each 'justice,' and the texts of the original Brown decisions, What Brown v. Board of Education Should Have Said is a valuable source of ideas, commentary, and insights into the challenges of racial discrimination, both historical and present."
"This intriguing collection provides unique insights into the way today's constitutional theorists would go about deciding Brown v. Board of Education, and into contemporary constitutional theory more generally. It also illuminates Brown v. Board of Education itself, by bringing the insights of nearly fifty years of experience to bear on the problem the Court faced in 1954. Those interested in Brown and in constitutional theory will all benefit from thinking about what these authors have to say."
"A remarkable collection of writings. The eminent scholars it features articulate with insight and passion a wide range of views. No other book better relates the Supreme Court's landmark decision of 1954 to the debates and anxieties of our own time."
"Balkan offers his own assessment in a critical introduction and the iconic impact of Brown."
Review
"A remarkable collection of writings. The eminent scholars it features articulate with insight and passion a wide range of views. No other book better relates the Supreme Court's landmark decision of 1954 to the debates and anxieties of our own time."-Randall Kennedy,Harvard Law School
Review
”In his crisp That Ever Loyal Island, Papas explores the experiences of the inhabitants of Staten Island during the Revolutionary War to explain why many of them sided with the British instead of joining the American revolutionaries or remaining neutral.”
-Journal of American History,
Review
“This is an admirable history—thoroughly researched, clearly written, and persuasively argued. It adds significantly to what we have known about the identity of Loyalists and the intensity of the hostility that they faced during the Revolutionary War in the middle colonies.”
-The Journal of Military History,
Review
“A beautifully written, richly descriptive, and thoroughly-researched account of the importance of Staten Island in the American Revolution. This is an important book, demonstrating that a close examination and analysis of local politics, economics, and social structure can hold the key to understanding national history.”
-Carol Berkin,author of Revolutionary Mothers
Review
“Is not only a micro-history, it provides lessons in the winning—and keeping—the ‘hearts and minds of a local civilian population.”
-On Point,
Review
“An excellent book—succinct yet deeply researched, well written and filled with telling bits of evidence worked smoothly into an interpretive narrative. An insightful, important study.”
-Robert Calhoon,author of The Loyalists in Revolutionary America, 1760-1781
Synopsis
Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court's landmark 1954 decision ordering the desegregation of America's public schools, is perhaps the most famous case in American constitutional law. Criticized and even openly defied when first handed down, in half a century Brown has become a venerated symbol of equality and civil rights.
Its meaning, however, remains as contested as the case is celebrated. In the decades since the original decision, constitutional interpreters of all stripes have found within it different meanings. Both supporters and opponents of affirmative action have claimed the mantle of Brown, criticizing the other side for betraying its spirit. Meanwhile, the opinion itself has often been criticized as bland and uninspiring, carefully written to avoid controversy and maintain unanimity among the Justices.
As the 50th anniversary of Brown approaches, America's schools are increasingly divided by race and class. Liberals and conservatives alike harbor profound regrets about the development of race relations since Brown, while disagreeing heatedly about the proper role of the courts in promoting civil equality and civil rights.
In this volume, nine of America's top constitutional and civil rights experts have been challenged to rewrite the Brown decision as they would like it to have been written, incorporating what they now know about the subsequent history of the United States but making use of only those sources available at the time of the original decision. In addition, Jack Balkin gives a detailed introduction to the case, chronicling the history of the litigation in Brown, and explaining the current debates over its legacy.
Contributors include: Bruce Ackerman, Jack M Balkin, Derrick A. Bell, Drew S. Days, John Hart Ely, Catharine A. MacKinnon, Michael W. McConnell, Frank I Michelman, and Cass R. Sunstein.
Synopsis
America's most esteemed legal voices weigh in on the court case that changed the country.
Synopsis
Legal experts rewrite the landmark court decision
Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court's landmark 1954 decision ordering the desegregation of America's public schools, is perhaps the most famous case in American constitutional law. Criticized and even openly defied when first handed down, in half a century Brown has become a venerated symbol of equality and civil rights.
Its meaning, however, remains as contested as the case is celebrated. In the decades since the original decision, constitutional interpreters of all stripes have found within it different meanings. Both supporters and opponents of affirmative action have claimed the mantle of Brown, criticizing the other side for betraying its spirit. Meanwhile, the opinion itself has often been criticized as bland and uninspiring, carefully written to avoid controversy and maintain unanimity among the Justices.
As the 50th anniversary of Brown approaches, America's schools are increasingly divided by race and class. Liberals and conservatives alike harbor profound regrets about the development of race relations since Brown, while disagreeing heatedly about the proper role of the courts in promoting civil equality and civil rights.
In this volume, nine of America's top constitutional and civil rights experts have been challenged to rewrite the Brown decision as they would like it to have been written, incorporating what they now know about the subsequent history of the United States but making use of only those sources available at the time of the original decision. In addition, Jack Balkin gives a detailed introduction to the case, chronicling the history of the litigation in Brown, and explaining the current debates over its legacy.
Contributors include: Bruce Ackerman, Jack M Balkin, Derrick A. Bell, Drew S. Days, John Hart Ely, Catharine A. MacKinnon, Michael W. McConnell, Frank I Michelman, and Cass R. Sunstein.
Synopsis
Of crucial strategic importance to both the British and the Continental Army, Staten Island was, for a good part of the American Revolution, a bastion of Loyalist support. With its military and political significance, Staten Island provides rich terrain for Phillip Papas's illuminating case study of the local dimensions of the Revolutionary War.
Papas traces Staten Island's political sympathies not to strong ties with Britain, but instead to local conditions that favored the status quo instead of revolutionary change. With a thriving agricultural economy, stable political structure, and strong allegiance to the Anglican Church, on the eve of war it was in Staten Island's self-interest to throw its support behind the British, in order to maintain its favorable economic, social, and political climate.
Over the course of the conflict, continual occupation and attack by invading armies deeply eroded Staten Island's natural and other resources, and these pressures, combined with general war weariness, created fissures among the residents of “that ever loyal island,” with Loyalist neighbors fighting against Patriot neighbors in a civil war. Papass thoughtful study reminds us that the Revolution was both a civil war and a war for independence—a duality that is best viewed from a local perspective.
About the Author
Jack M. Balkin is Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment at Yale Law School, and the founder and director of Yales Information Society Project. He is the author of numerous books and the editor of What Brown v. Board of Education Should Have Said (NYU Press, 2002). He lives in New Haven, CT.