Reconstructing rights : courts, parties, and equality rights in India, South Africa, and the United States / Stephan Stohler.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Stohler, Stephan, 1977- author.

Series:

Comparative constitutional law and policy

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Equality before the law--United States.

Equality before the law.

United States.

Equality before the law--India.

India.

Equality before the law--South Africa.

Equality before the law--Political aspects.

South Africa.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xviii, 264 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2019.

System Details:

text file

PDF

Summary:

Judges often behave in surprising ways when they re-interpret laws and constitutions. Contrary to existing expectations, judges regularly abandon their own established interpretations in favor of new understandings. In Reconstructing Rights, Stephan Stohler offers a new theory of judicial behavior which demonstrates that judges do not act alone. Instead, Stohler shows that judges work in a deliberative fashion with aligned partisans in the elected branches to articulate evolving interpretations of major statutes and constitutions. Reconstructing Rights draws on legislative debates, legal briefs, and hundreds of judicial opinions issued from high courts in India, South Africa, and the United States in the area of discrimination and affirmative action. These materials demonstrate judges' willingness to provide interpretative leadership. But they also demonstrate how judges relinquish their leadership roles when their aligned counterparts disagree. This pattern of behavior indicates that judges do not exercise exclusive authority over constitutional interpretation. Rather, that task is subject to greater democratic influence than is often acknowledged.

Contents:

The politics of legal interpretation

Equality rights in American education and public spending

Equality rights in American employment

Equality rights in American representation

Equality rights in Indian employment

Equality rights in Indian education

Equality rights in South Africa.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Jul 2019).

Other Format:

Print version:

ISBN:

9781108694704

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.