NCJ Number
139675
Date Published
1992
Length
705 pages
Annotation
This review and analysis of U.S. Supreme Court decisions that have interpreted the constitutional rights of Americans presents the decisions under the major topics of civil liberties, the rights of the criminally accused, and civil rights.
Abstract
The distinction of this book, according to its authors, is that it focuses not only on U.S. Supreme Court decisions and how the Court applied the resulting legal precedents to subsequent disputes, but also on how a host of political factors, internal and external to the Court, influenced judicial decisions and shaped the development of constitutional law. The book first discusses the nature of the U.S. Constitution and the rights of Americans. This includes consideration of the Constitution as a dynamic document, the amendment process, and the U.S. Supreme Court's role in relation to the amendment process. A discussion of the incorporation of the Bill of Rights is also included in this first section. The section on civil liberties under the Constitution includes Supreme Court cases on the exercise and establishment of religion, freedom of expression, and the right to privacy. Supreme Court decisions on the rights of the criminally accused pertain to investigations and evidence, attorneys, trials, and punishments. The civil rights cases reviewed pertain to racial discrimination, sex discrimination, economic discrimination, alien discrimination, and discrimination remedies. Other civil rights cases considered pertain to voting rights and political representation. The Appendixes contain the U.S. Constitution; a summary of the Supreme Court's history; profiles of the Justices; a seating chart of the justices; and discussions of the American legal system, Supreme Court procedures, the Court calendar, and the briefing of Supreme Court cases. 21 tables, 3 figures, and subject and case indexes