Can the death penalty be administered in a just way--without executing the innocent, without regard to race, and without arbitrariness? How does capital punishment in the United States fit with international human rights law? These are among the questions that leading legal scholars and journalists explore in "Beyond Repair?" All new, the essays in this collection focus on the period since 1976, when the Supreme Court held that capital punishment, in and of itself, does not violate the Constitution. In addition to reflecting on the most recent developments in the law, the contributors draw on...
Can the death penalty be administered in a just way--without executing the innocent, without regard to race, and without arbitrariness? How does capit...
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." --Amendment II, United States Constitution
The Second Amendment is regularly invoked by opponents of gun control, but H. Richard Uviller and William G. Merkel argue the amendment has nothing to contribute to debates over private access to firearms. In "The Militia and the Right to Arms, or, How the Second Amendment Fell Silent," Uviller and Merkel show how postratification history has sapped the Second Amendment of its meaning. Starting with...
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
Provides a historically grounded examination of the original meaning of the 2nd Amendment and an interpretation of the rights it safeguards (or doesn't) in the light of that historical understanding.
Provides a historically grounded examination of the original meaning of the 2nd Amendment and an interpretation of the rights it safeguards (or doesn'...
Can the death penalty be administered in a just way--without executing the innocent, without regard to race, and without arbitrariness? How does capital punishment in the United States fit with international human rights law? These are among the questions that leading legal scholars and journalists explore in "Beyond Repair?" All new, the essays in this collection focus on the period since 1976, when the Supreme Court held that capital punishment, in and of itself, does not violate the Constitution. In addition to reflecting on the most recent developments in the law, the contributors draw on...
Can the death penalty be administered in a just way--without executing the innocent, without regard to race, and without arbitrariness? How does capit...
Although the federal appointment of U.S. judges and executive branch officers has consistently engendered controversy, previous studies of the process have been limited to particular dramatic conflicts and have tended to view appointments in a vacuum without regard to other incidents in the process, other legislative matters, or broader social, political, and historical developments. "The Federal Appointments Process "fills this gap by providing the first comprehensive analysis of over two hundred years of federal appointments in the United States, revealing crucial patterns of growth and...
Although the federal appointment of U.S. judges and executive branch officers has consistently engendered controversy, previous studies of the process...
In "Constitutional Deliberation in Congress" J. Mitchell Pickerill analyzes the impact of the Supreme Court's constitutional decisions on Congressional debates and statutory language. Based on a thorough examination of how Congress responds to key Court rulings and strategizes in anticipation of them, Pickerill argues that judicial review--or the possibility of it--encourages Congressional attention to constitutional issues. Revealing critical aspects of how laws are made, revised, and refined within the separated system of government of the United States, he makes an important contribution...
In "Constitutional Deliberation in Congress" J. Mitchell Pickerill analyzes the impact of the Supreme Court's constitutional decisions on Congressiona...
The United States Supreme Court s 2002 03 term confounded Court watchers. The same Rehnquist Court that many had seen as solidly conservative and unduly activist the Court that helped decide the 2000 presidential election and struck down thirty-one federal statutes since 1995 issued a set of surprising, watershed rulings. In a term filled with important and unpredictable decisions, it upheld affirmative action, invalidated a same-sex sodomy statute, and reversed a death sentence due to ineffective assistance of counsel. With essays focused on individual Justices, Court practices, and some of...
The United States Supreme Court s 2002 03 term confounded Court watchers. The same Rehnquist Court that many had seen as solidly conservative and undu...
The United States Supreme Court s 2002 03 term confounded Court watchers. The same Rehnquist Court that many had seen as solidly conservative and unduly activist the Court that helped decide the 2000 presidential election and struck down thirty-one federal statutes since 1995 issued a set of surprising, watershed rulings. In a term filled with important and unpredictable decisions, it upheld affirmative action, invalidated a same-sex sodomy statute, and reversed a death sentence due to ineffective assistance of counsel. With essays focused on individual Justices, Court practices, and some of...
The United States Supreme Court s 2002 03 term confounded Court watchers. The same Rehnquist Court that many had seen as solidly conservative and undu...
Perhaps more than any other Supreme Court ruling, "Brown v. Board of Education," the 1954 decision declaring the segregation of public schools unconstitutional, highlighted both the possibilities and the limitations of American democracy. This collection of sixteen original essays by historians and legal scholars takes the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of "Brown" to reconsider the history and legacy of that landmark decision. "From the Grassroots to the Supreme Court" juxtaposes oral histories and legal analysis to provide a nuanced look at how men and women understood "Brown" and...
Perhaps more than any other Supreme Court ruling, "Brown v. Board of Education," the 1954 decision declaring the segregation of public schools unconst...
