Constitutional scholars Christopher P. Banks and John C. Blakeman offer the most current and the first book-length study of the U.S. Supreme Court's "new federalism" begun by the Rehnquist Court and now flourishing under Chief Justice John Roberts. While the Rehnquist Court reinvorgorated new federalism by protecting state sovereignty and set new constitutional limits on federal power, Banks and Blakeman show that in the Roberts Court new federalism continues to evolve in a docket increasingly attentive to statutory construction, preemption, and business litigation
In the last decade, the Supreme Court has handed down a remarkable series of decisions invalidating congressional legislation in the name of federalism or states' rights. Most of these were decided by a razor-thin majority of five justices. The cases fall into four categories. First, in two cases the Court reaffirmed and expanded the principle of state sovereign immunity. In a second pair of cases, the Court held that state governments (other than their courts) cannot be "commandeered" by Congress to assist in the enforcement of federal law. Third, for the first time since the early New Deal, the Curt, but the familiar 5-4 margin, invalidated a federal statute enacted pursuant to the interstate commerce clause. Finally, the Court adopted a new, and extremely demanding, standard of review for congressional action under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment, which empowers Congress to "enforce" the amendment "by appropriate legislation." The 13 articles in this volume of The Annals deal with the various aspects of the Supreme Court's federalist revival and the principles underlying it. The first three articles discuss these principles in comprehensive terms. Each of the next three articles focuses on a particular aspect of the federalism principle or its judicial enforcement. These articles are followed by a contribution with regard to Congress' ability to escape the constitutional limitations of federalism by means of conditional grants under the spending clause. The next three articles point up alternative themes, purposes, or agendas in the Court's federalism decisions. Another two contributions focus on the anti-commandeering issue, but place that issue in a broader context. The final article illuminates, from several perspectives, the four-year-old federal habeas corpus statute (the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act). The Supreme Court's recent decision in Bush v. Gore - issued shortly before this volume went to press - dramatically reverses the case and principles that are the subject of the articles in this volume. Perhaps the best justification for the Court's action is not legal but political. The majority justices - or some of them - may have looked down the road and seen a constitutional catastrophe in the making. Unfortunately, there is also a less benign explanation: one or more of the justices may have reached the conclusion that if the presidential outcome were going to be determined by an act of judicial will, it would be their will, and not that of the Florida Supreme Court.
This book examines leading Supreme Court decisions involving the powers of the Court, the president, and Congress, as well as cases addressing American federalism and Americans’ economic rights. By analyzing both the Court’s opinions and voting patterns from 1791 through 2018, this volume presents an overview of the role of the Supreme Court in the legal and political system of the United States throughout its entire history, regularly relying on Robert McCloskey’s theory of the nation’s three major constitutional eras and the Supreme Court Database in its organizational approach. Over 100 of the Supreme Court's most significant rulings, old and new, are covered and clarified in this volume to provide an objective, reliable, and valuable resource for students, academics, legal professionals, and the general public alike.
A thorough analysis of the early history and development of judicial review, this book by a preeminent scholar ranks among the most cited and highly regarded texts on law and government.
When we think of judicial activism–the Court's role in making public policy–we often focus on individuals: the Robert Borks or Thurgood Marshalls of the times. In this book, Richard Pacelle explores the institutional judicial activism of the Supreme Court through the dramatic changes in its agenda as it has evolved from 1933 to the present. Once dominated by economic issues, the Supreme Court's agenda is now populated largely by cases involving individual rights and liberties. This shift is hardly accidental, Pacelle argues, and he offers quantitative as well as qualitative assessments of the means and motivations for change. Over 7,500 cases serve as the basis of analysis, and the narrative is amplified by informative appendixes: an explanation of the author's case taxonomy, a chronology of the Court's chief justices, a list of cases cited, and a digest of key cases. The systematic framework provided for tracing historical changes in the Supreme Court's agenda is the first of its kind and is sure to be valuable in future analyses and projections of coming change beyond the Rehnquist Court.
Chapters featured in this title include: 'Dual Enforcement of Constitutional Norms', 'Cool Federalism and the Life Cycle of Moral Progress', 'Why Federalism and Constitutional Positivism Don't Mix', and 'Interjurisdictional Enforcement of Rights in a Post-erie World', amongst others.
Abraham Lincoln worried that the 'walls' of the constitution would ultimately be leveled by the 'silent artillery of time.' His fears materialized with the 1913 ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment, which, by eliminating federalism's structural protection, altered the very nature and meaning of federalism. Ralph A. Rossum's provocative new book considers the forces unleashed by an amendment to install the direct election of U.S. Senators. Far from expecting federalism to be protected by an activist court, the Framers, Rossum argues, expected the constitutional structure, particularly the election of the Senate by state legislatures, to sustain it. In Federalism, the Supreme Court, and the Seventeenth Amendment Rossum challenges the fundamental jurisprudential assumptions about federalism. He also provides a powerful indictment of the controversial federalist decisions recently handed down by an activist U.S. Supreme Court seeking to fill the gap created by the Seventeenth Amendment's ratification and protect the original federal design. Rossum's masterful handling of the development of federalism restores the true significance to an amendment previously consigned to the footnotes of history. It demonstrates how the original federal design has been amended out of existence; the interests of states as states abandoned and federalism left unprotected, both structurally and democratically. It highlights the ultimate irony of constitutional democracy: that an amendment intended to promote democracy, even at the expense of federalism, has been undermined by an activist court intent on protecting federalism, at the expense of democracy.
Examples & Explanations for Constitutional Law: National Power and Federalism, Ninth edition, by Christopher N. May, Allan Ides, and Simona Grossi, provides a clearly written, comprehensive examination of constitutional doctrine pertaining to national power and federalism. This problem-oriented study guide provides students and teachers with a highly readable and accessible study of constitutional law. Both this book and its companion volume,¿Examples & Explanations for Constitutional Law: Individual Rights, combine detailed textual material with real-world examples and explanations that apply the relevant constitutional doctrine to specific fact patterns. The text operates as a readable and citable treatise on the topics covered, and the examples and explanations serve as an elaboration on that text. Its unique, time-tested Examples & Explanations pedagogy combines textual material with well-written, comprehensive and up-to-date examples, explanations and questions. A favorite among law school students, and often recommended by professors, this guide takes students through the principal doctrines of constitutional law covered in a typical course. New to the Ninth Edition: Inclusion of more than 40 new Supreme Court cases New and updated Examples & Explanations More sophisticated discussion of the federal preemption doctrine Updated treatment of presidential impeachment Expanded discussion of the executive privilege doctrine Deeper coverage of the appointment and removal of federal officials Professors and students will benefit from: Hypotheticals similar to those presented in class, with structure and reasoning behind the corresponding analysis An alternative perspective to help you understand your casebook and in-class lectures Straightforward, informal text that is never simplistic, and quickly gets to the point in conversational style laced with humor Adaptability with all major Constitutional Law casebooks Authors with over 70 years of combined experience teaching Constitutional Law
