Judicial Power and American Character
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In this highly original book, Robert Nagel demonstrates how contemporary constitutional politics reflect the moral character of American culture. He persuasively argues that judicial decisions embody wider social tendenceies towards moral evasiveness, privatization, and opportunism. Constitutional interpretation, he urges, is often an effort to stifle political disagreement and, ultimately, to censor our own beliefs and traditions. Nagel ranges over such controversial topics as the confirmation hearings of Clarence Thomas and Robert Bork, local resistance to abortion rights, political correctness on campus, and judicial decisions dealing with pornography, flag burning, gay rights, school prayer, and racial desegregation. Crossing conventional political and philosophical lines, the analysis is surprising and provocative. Nagel sees fundamental similarities between liberals like Ronald Dworkin and conservatives like Bork. He finds judicial arrogance in jurists as different as William Brennan and Sandra O'Connor. Clearly written and forcefully argued, this work is an audacious examination of judicial power as an integral part of our increasingly anxious and intolerant society.Reviews
"Professor Nagel's provocative book questions why an essentially undemocratic body like the Supreme Court should get the last word on the troubling moral issues of our day....An erudite argument."--Commonweal
"The best analysis yet of the Court's method, and of the relation of its style to its purposes."--Chronicle
"This is a major contribution to constitutional theory and practice, a significant work of social criticism, and a great pleasure to read. As for an originality of ideas, it is here in abundance. Professor Nagel writes from a perspective that pays enormous respect to the common understandings of society."--Lee C. Bollinger, Provost, Dartmouth College
"A thoughtful essay on the role of the Supreme Court in our society....Highly recommended."--Choice
About the Author(s)
Robert F. Nagel is Ira Rothgerber, Jr., Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Colorado and author of Constitutional Cultures: The Mentality and Consequence of Judicial Review (1989). He has written for the New Republic, Washington Monthly, Public Interest, Wall Street Journal, and the National Review.
