The Constitution in ConflictBelknap Press, 1992 - 462 halaman Lincoln was not alone in believing that the Constitution could be interpreted by any of the three branches of the government. Today, however, the Supreme Court's role as the ultimate arbiter of constitutional matters is widely accepted. But as Robert Burt shows in his provocative new book, this was not always the case, nor should it be. In a remarkably innovative reconstruction of constitutional history, Burt traces the controversy over judicial supremacy back to the founding fathers, with Madison and Hamilton as the principal antagonists. The conflicting views these founders espoused--equal interpretive powers among the federal branches on one hand and judicial supremacy on the other--remain plausible readings of "original intent" and so continue to present us with a choice. Drawing extensively on Lincoln's conception of political equality, Burt argues convincingly that judicial supremacy and majority rule are both inconsistent with the egalitarian democratic ideal. The proper task of the judiciary, he contends--as epitomized in Brown v. Board of Education--is to actively protect minorities against "enslaving" legislative defeats while, at the same time, to refrain from awarding conclusive "victory" to these minorities against their adversaries. From this premise, Burt goes on to examine key decisions such as Roe v. Wade, U.S. v. Nixon, and the death penalty cases, all of which demonstrate how the Court has fallen away from egalitarian jurisprudence and returned to an essentially authoritarian conception of its role. With an eye to the urgent issues at stake in these cases, Burt identifies the alternative results that an egalitarian conception of judicial authority would dictate. Thefirst fully articulated presentation of the Constitution as a communally interpreted document in which the Supreme Court plays an important, but not predominant, role, The Constitution in Conflict has dramatic implications for both the theory and the practice of constitutional law. |
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Halaman 164
... blacks in the state had increased from 3,000 to 12,000 , constituting some four per- cent of the black population and the largest absolute number of free blacks in any state . In 1793 the legislature forbade free blacks from entering ...
... blacks in the state had increased from 3,000 to 12,000 , constituting some four per- cent of the black population and the largest absolute number of free blacks in any state . In 1793 the legislature forbade free blacks from entering ...
Halaman 217
... blacks , coupled with the swift enactment by the recon- vened southern legislatures of the notorious " Black Codes " that appeared to reimpose conditions of enslavement on the newly freed blacks . However much most northern whites held ...
... blacks , coupled with the swift enactment by the recon- vened southern legislatures of the notorious " Black Codes " that appeared to reimpose conditions of enslavement on the newly freed blacks . However much most northern whites held ...
Halaman 342
... blacks who murder whites and infrequently in response to any murders of blacks , a grim portrait of the American criminal justice system emerges . This portrait shows that law enforcement in the most serious and publicly visible cases ...
... blacks who murder whites and infrequently in response to any murders of blacks , a grim portrait of the American criminal justice system emerges . This portrait shows that law enforcement in the most serious and publicly visible cases ...
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