David M. O Brien is Leone Reaves and George W. Spicer Professor at the Woodrow Wilson Department of Government and Foreign Affairs at the University of Virginia. He received his Ph.D., M.A., and B.A. degrees in philosophy and political science from the University of California at Santa Barbara and is the author of numerous books, including Constitutional Law and Politics and Storm Center: The Supreme Court in American Politics, winner of the American Bar Association s Silver Gavel Award.