Judicial Review in State Supreme Courts

Judicial Review in State Supreme Courts PDF

Author: Laura Langer

Publisher: State University of New York Press

Published: 2012-02-01

Total Pages: 189

ISBN-13: 0791489248

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Despite having the final word on many policy issues, state supreme courts have received much less scholarly attention than the United States Supreme Court. Examining these often neglected institutions, this book demonstrates that by increasing our knowledge of the behavior of state supreme court judges across differing areas of law, we can enrich our understanding of the function of state supreme courts, and the relations between these institutions and other branches of government. In addition, Judicial Review in State Supreme Courts advances our conceptualization of the judiciary and offers a more general theory about judicial behavior, accountability, and the role of courts in American society. Langer looks at the policy-making powers of state supreme courts, and the conditions under which justices are most likely to review and invalidate state laws, portraying judges as forward thinking individuals who pursue both policy and electoral goals.

Judicial Politics in Mexico

Judicial Politics in Mexico PDF

Author: Andrea Castagnola

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-11-03

Total Pages: 190

ISBN-13: 1315520591

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After more than seventy years of uninterrupted authoritarian government headed by the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), Mexico formally began the transition to democracy in 2000. Unlike most other new democracies in Latin America, no special Constitutional Court was set up, nor was there any designated bench of the Supreme Court for constitutional adjudication. Instead, the judiciary saw its powers expand incrementally. Under this new context inevitable questions emerged: How have the justices interpreted the constitution? What is the relation of the court with the other political institutions? How much autonomy do justices display in their decisions? Has the court considered the necessary adjustments to face the challenges of democracy? It has become essential in studying the new role of the Supreme Court to obtain a more accurate and detailed diagnosis of the performances of its justices in this new political environment. Through critical review of relevant debates and using original data sets to empirically analyze the way justices voted on the three main means of constitutional control from 2000 through 2011, leading legal scholars provide a thoughtful and much needed new interpretation of the role the judiciary plays in a country’s transition to democracy This book is designed for graduate courses in law and courts, judicial politics, comparative judicial politics, Latin American institutions, and transitions to democracy. This book will equip scholars and students with the knowledge required to understand the importance of the independence of the judiciary in the transition to democracy.

The People Vs. the Courts

The People Vs. the Courts PDF

Author: Mathew Manweller

Publisher: Academica Press,LLC

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 1930901976

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This research monograph analyses and describes how initiative elites react to the high level of judicial review of their successfully passed ballot measures and why those reactions are failing to decrease the number of judicial nullifications. For the last 30 years, state ballot measures that have passed and been challenged in court have been nullified at the ration of 1 out of 2. As a result of a 50% rate of nullification initiative elites have benefited from institutional learning and have become more sophisticated and politically savvy. However the nullification have hardly plummeted. The work explains why and posits other legal and political actions that may be possible for the ballot winners and their supporters.

The Supreme Court's Constitution

The Supreme Court's Constitution PDF

Author: Bernard H. Siegan

Publisher: Transaction Publishers

Published:

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 9781412839273

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The U.S. Court has exercised enormous influence on American society throughout its history. Although the Court is considered the guardian of the Constitution, the Constitution does not specifically set forth the Court's power to strike down federal or state legislation, nor does it provide guidance on how this power should be applied. In this critical examination of Supreme Court opinions, Bernard Siegan argues that the Court has frequently ruled both contrary to and without guidance from Constitutional meaning and purpose. He concludes that the U.S. Supreme Court has increasingly become more the maker than the interpreter of fundamental law. The author offers a detailed analysis of the Constitution and numerous Supreme Court cases involving controversial issues ranging from the line between federal and state powers to the validity of measures according to preferential treatment for minorities and women. The book is essential reading for everyone interested in understanding the differences between activist and literalist traditions in the high court.

The Case Against the Supreme Court

The Case Against the Supreme Court PDF

Author: Erwin Chemerinsky

Publisher: Penguin Books

Published: 2015-09-29

Total Pages: 402

ISBN-13: 0143128000

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Both historically and in the present, the Supreme Court has largely been a failure In this devastating book, Erwin Chemerinsky—“one of the shining lights of legal academia” (The New York Times)—shows how, case by case, for over two centuries, the hallowed Court has been far more likely to uphold government abuses of power than to stop them. Drawing on a wealth of rulings, some famous, others little known, he reviews the Supreme Court’s historic failures in key areas, including the refusal to protect minorities, the upholding of gender discrimination, and the neglect of the Constitution in times of crisis, from World War I through 9/11. No one is better suited to make this case than Chemerinsky. He has studied, taught, and practiced constitutional law for thirty years and has argued before the Supreme Court. With passion and eloquence, Chemerinsky advocates reforms that could make the system work better, and he challenges us to think more critically about the nature of the Court and the fallible men and women who sit on it.

Freedom of Speech: The Supreme Court and Judicial Review

Freedom of Speech: The Supreme Court and Judicial Review PDF

Author: Martin Shapiro

Publisher: Quid Pro Books

Published: 2011-02-11

Total Pages: 243

ISBN-13: 1458196860

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One of the great continuing disputes of U.S. politics is about the role of the Supreme Court. Another is about the First Amendment. This book is about both. A classic defense of the openly political role of the Court, this book belies the notion reasserted recently by Chief Justice Roberts that judges are just neutral umpires. Especially in the area of speech, judges make policy; they create law.