"Constitutional law expert Ian Millhiser tells the history of the Supreme Court through the eyes of everyday people who have suffered the most as a result of its judgements. The justices built a nation where children toiled in coal mines and cotton mills, where Americans could be forced into camps because of their race, and where women were sterilized at the command of states. The Court was the midwife of Jim Crow, the right hand of union busters, and the dead hand of the Confederacy. Nor is the modern Court a vast improvement, with its incursions on voting rights, its willingness to place elections for sale, and its growing skepticism towards the democratic process generally. In this book, Millhiser argues the Supreme Court does not deserve the respect it commands. To the contrary, it routinely bent the arc of American history away from justice"--
Record details
ISBN:9781568584560 (hardback)
Physical Description:xv, 351 pages ; 25 cm print
Publisher:New York, NY : Nation Books, 2015.
Content descriptions
Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 289-332) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:
How the Civil War was undone -- The baron outside Chicago -- The two constitutions -- The price of a Coke -- You load sixteen tons and what do you get? -- Men feared witches and burnt women -- The bottom falls out -- The biggest damned-fool mistake I ever made -- Should we double our wealth and conquer the stars -- The truce -- Rigging the game -- The final word -- The Constitution has always been at war with Eurasia -- EpilogueC: the gathering storm.