Description
Book SynopsisThe Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution at a level sufficiently general to guide lawmaking while avoiding great detail. This four-page document has guided the United States of America for more than two centuries. The Supreme Court has parsed the document into clauses, which plaintiffs and defendants invoke in cases or controversies before the Court. Some, like the Interstate Commerce Clause, are central to the survival of a government of multiple sovereignties. The practice of observing case precedents allows orderly development of the law and consistent direction to the lower courts. The Court itself claimed the final power of judicial review, despite efforts to the contrary by the executive and legislative branches of the national government and the state supreme courts. The Court then limited its own awesome power through a series of self-imposed rules of justiciability. These rules set the conditions under which the Court may exercise the extraordinary final power of judicia
Trade Review
“Seitz has written a masterful book tracing William Rehnquist’s views about some of the structural aspects of the Constitution – sovereign immunity, federalism, limits on state power to regulate commerce, habeas corpus, standing to sue – to earlier decisions throughout American history. This book is clearly written and carefully researched. It is a wonderful description of how the Supreme Court developed in the law these areas and of how Rehnquist’s approach fit into this larger fabric.” -- Erwin Chemerinsky, University of California Berkley Law School
Table of Contents
Preface
Chapter 1: State Sovereignty
Chapter 2: Full Faith and Credit
Chapter 3: Privileges and Immunities
Chapter 4: Interstate Commerce Clause
Chapter 5: The Administrative State
Chapter 6: Justiciability and Habeas Corpus
Chapter 7: Standing, Ripeness, Political Question
Chapter 8: Federal Question
Works Cited
Cases Cited
