Supreme power
Subtitle: 7 pivotal Supreme Court decisions that had a major impact on America
By: Ted Stewart
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Published: 2017
Language: eng
Number of pages: 243
ISBN-13: 9781629723402
Subjects: United States; Political questions and judicial power; United States. Supreme Court; History
Other titles: Seven pivotal Supreme Court decisions that had a major impact on America
Description: "Bestselling author Ted Stewart explains how the Supreme Court and its nine appointed members now stand at a crucial point in their power to hand down momentous and far-ranging decisions. Today's Court affects every major area of American life, from health care to civil rights, from abortion to marriage. This fascinating book reveals the complex history of the Court as told through seven pivotal decisions. These cases originally seemed narrow in scope, but they vastly expanded the interpretation of law. Such is the power of judicial review to make sweeping, often unforeseen, changes in American society by revising the meaning of our Constitution. Each chapter presents an easy-to-read brief on the case and explains what the decisions mean and how the Court ruling, often a 5-4 split, had long-term impact. For example, in Lochner v. New York, a widely accepted turn-of-the-twentieth-century New York State law limited excessive overtime for bakery workers. That law was overturned by the Court based on the due process clause of the Constitution. The very same precedents, Stewart points out, were used by the Court seventy years later and expanded to a new right to privacy in Roe v. Wade, making abortion legal in the nation. Filled with insight, commentary, and compelling stories of ordinary citizens coming to the judiciary for remedy for the problems of their day, Supreme Power illustrates the magnitude of the Court's power to interpret the Constitution and decide the law of the land."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 229-236) and index.
Table of contents: title: How the Supreme Court became Supreme / Marbury v. Madison (1803); title: How the Supreme Court came to sanction racism / Plessy v. Ferguson (1896); title: How a law on bakers' working rights led to abortion rights Lochner v. The State of New York (1905); title: How 12 acres of wheat led to an all-powerful Washington, D.C. / Wickard v. Filbrn (1942); title: How a nation founded by devout men and women came to ban religion from the public arena / Everson v. Board of Education of Ewing Township (1947); title: How the Supreme Court empowered federal judges to raise taxes, manage school districts, and generally work their will / Missouri v. Jenkins (1990); title: How the Supreme Court played a central role in redefining the values and culture of America / Obergefell v. Hodges (2015).