A Court Divided: The Rehnquist Court and the Future of Constitutional Law
by By Tushnet, Mark V.
Category: Law , Courts

Tushnet (constitutional law, Georgetown U. Law Center) analyzes the legal personalities and decisions of the US Supreme Court under Chief Justice Rehnquist. His overarching argument has to do why the Rehnquist court, to the dismay of the religious right, could generally be counted on to advance economic conservatism but simultaneously failed to roll back the cultural leftism unleashed by the Warren Court. His explanation distinguishes between new (Reagan/Goldwater) Republicans such as Scalia and Thomas and old Republicans such O'Connor and Souter, who tended not to join their Republican colleagues on such issues as abortion, affirmative action, and gay rights. In addition to examining these issues and explaining this dynamic, he profiles four of the justices in relation to signature issues: Clarence Thomas and constitutional "originalism," Ruth Bader Ginsberg and gender discrimination; Antonin Scalia and the absolute First Amendment; and Anthony Kennedy and gay rights. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)