Making our democracy work : a judge's view / Stephen Breyer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Breyer, Stephen G., 1938-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Judicial review--United States.

Judicial review.

United States.

Judicial review--United States--History.

History.

Political questions and judicial power--United States.

Political questions and judicial power.

Separation of powers--United States.

Separation of powers.

Physical Description:

xiv, 270 pages : illustrations, portraits ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2010.

Summary:

Justice Breyer discusses what the Court must do going forward to maintain that public confidence and argues for interpreting the Constitution in a way that works in practice. He forcefully rejects competing approaches that look exclusively to the Constitution's text or to the eighteenth-century views of the framers. Instead, he advocates a pragmatic approach that applies unchanging constitutional values to ever-changing circumstances--an approach that will best demonstrate to the public that the Constitution continues to serve us well.

Contents:

The people's trust. Judicial review : the democratic anomaly ; Establishing judicial review : Marbury v. Madison ; The Cherokees ; Dred Scott ; Little Rock ; A present-day example

Decisions that work. The basic approach ; Congress, statutes, and purposes ; The executive branch, administrative action, and comparative expertise ; The States and Federalism : decentralization and subsidiarity ; Other Federal courts : specialization ; Past court decisions : stability

Protecting individuals. Individual liberty : permanent values and proportionality ; The President, national security, and accountability : Korematsu ; Presidential power : Guantánamo and accountability.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 235-254) and index.

ISBN:

9780307269911 :

0307269914

OCLC:

495271383

Online:

Contributor biographical information

Publisher description