The Roberts Court: The Struggle for the Constitution
*Starred Review* Under the leadership of Chief Justice Roberts, the U.S. Supreme Court has a confident conservative majority willing to challenge the president and Congress and step beyond the bounds of the judiciary on major issues, according to Coyle, chief correspondent of the National Law Journal. From campaign finance to gun rights, from public-school integration to health care, the court has recently overruled precedents, raised unasked legal questions, and disregarded the decisions of elected officials, generating worries that the court may be becoming as partisan an institution as Congress. In separate sections, Coyle carefully and in great detail examines recent rulings on the application of Fourteenth Amendment equal protection to school integration, the Second Amendment right to bear arms, the First Amendment guarantee of free speech as applied to corporations, and the constitutional right of Congress to regulate commerce as applied to health-care reform. Coyle traces the journey of the court cases behind these issues, the conflicts and personalities behind them, and the political forces challenging or championing the underlying constitutional issues. In this insightful, important look at the Roberts court, Coyle also explores the broader implications for American politics and justice. --Vanessa Bush